


All Over In A New York Minute

by brokenhighways



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Challenge Response, Crimes & Criminals, Cycling, M/M, Minor Character Death, New York City, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-28
Updated: 2013-05-28
Packaged: 2017-12-13 02:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared’s just a regular guy (and one of the city’s most efficient bike couriers); he’s in a relationship that actually seems to be going somewhere, and he has a job that he loves. Everything seems to be going well until he’s thrown into high speed chase across New York City with notorious gang leader, Jeffrey Dean Morgan hot on his heels. Amidst all of that he has to deal with evading arrest (from an extremely persistent cop,) and ensure that he doesn’t lose the best thing that’s ever happened to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Over In A New York Minute

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [spn_cinema](http://spn-cinema.livejournal.com)'s 2013 challenge
> 
>  
> 
> Uh, I think the term poetic license _seriously_ applies here. I also have no idea where anything is in New York City so…hand-waving is applicable too, lol. But I tried my best. Many thanks to [Kelly](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellowwolf) for the beta!

##    
APRIL 17TH, 6.17PM

Jared Padalecki wouldn’t say that he’s had a hard life. His parents are relatively well off, so he has had a decent upbringing; he went to good schools, got excellent grades. He had a girlfriend for two years before he realised that he kind of liked guys too. Jared’s always fallen into line with what his parents wanted. For the first nineteen years of his life, Jared’s parents made sure that he had a plan. He was set to complete his degree, go to law school, get a job and settle down. It had sounded good. Stable. Everything was laid out for him and all he had to do was stay in line.  
  
However, by the time he's twenty, he realises that for the first nineteen years of his life, his  _parents_  have had a plan. He's not sure how it all starts. One day he's turning up half an hour early to classes and the next he's racing across New York, with no boundaries and nothing but miles of traffic ahead of him. It’s like a screw loosens in his brain and suddenly everything’s different. He hears about the job from another student called Tom. Delivering items via bicycle doesn't sound like the most lucrative of jobs, but he needs money and he doesn't want hand-outs from his parents. On his first day, a guy called Yanek shows him the ropes. By “ropes” Jared means  _took him on a terrifying ride through New York City._  Jared spends most of that day sweating buckets and trying not to fucking shit himself.  
  
He thinks about doing the job for a week and quitting quietly, but it takes a while for the adrenalin thrumming under his skin to settle down. For the first time in his life, he feels free.  
  
It’s an experience that he comes to crave. Naturally, his parents don’t approve. They don’t really say anything until Jared graduates and flies back to Texas. They smile proudly at the fact that he’s completed his political science degree and drop hints about law school. It takes a month for him to admit that he wants to take a year off. His father gives him a disappointed look but his mother smiles and agrees that a couple of months of interning first would be better.  
  
Six weeks after that when he tells them that he’s going back to New York City to  _work_ , they give him strange looks. Almost as if they don’t recognise him anymore.  
  
“Have you found a law firm up there to intern at, sweetie?” his mother asks, and the strain in her tone is obvious. His dad’s face remains indifferent and Jared shrugs off his fears.  
  
“I’m going back to my courier job,” he admits. “I need time to just be myself. I’m not ready for law school and I’ve spent the last three summers interning, my resume is fine.”  
  
“You’re wasting your potential!” His father finally explodes and Jared just laughs sadly.  
  
“You wouldn’t understand,” he says.  
  
“Well I hope you understand this,” his father replies. “If you go down to New York to continue that ridiculous job instead of furthering your career, you’re no longer welcome here.” There’s a stunned silence after he speaks and Jared pleads for his mom to step in. He waits for her to say that his father doesn’t mean it, that they’re not giving up on him.  
  
She just looks at the ground and doesn’t move an inch until Jared walks away.  
  
~  
  
What Jared didn’t tell his parents was that he had someone waiting for him up in New York City. His name was Dylan and he had dark brown hair, soulful brown eyes and a smile that made Jared’s knees weak. Jared had been pretty sure that what they had was love, or something close to it.  
  
Of course that particular delusion was exposed for what it was when Jared had walked into Dylan’s apartment and found him with his tongue down his roommate’s throat. Dylan chased after him, begged him to come back, but Jared knew there and then that their relationship was over. Still, it didn’t prevent him for participating in the furious screaming match they had in the lobby of Dylan’s apartment building.  
  
It didn’t stop him from remembering Dylan’s last words to him,  
  
“One of these days, you’re going to get killed. That fucking bike will be the death of you! I’m glad that I won’t be the one who has to identify your dead body! Fuck you.”  
  
 _One of these days, you’re going to get killed._  
  
For whatever reason, the words have never left him.  
  
~  
  
The best thing about being a bike courier is that Jared gets to fly in the wind, grin as his hair is tousled by the breeze, and seek out thrills while getting paid for it. Sure, the money is pretty shit. Still, it gets him by. He's paid his rent for this month and he can just about afford groceries. This job is all he needs in life at the moment. His ex-boyfriend and friends tend to disagree. They think that he's better than this job. That he should go back and do the fucking New York bar, just so he can spend the rests of his life in a fucking suit. That's not living, Jared thinks. What he does is  _living_. There are no boundaries, no limits to where he can go. The whole damn city is his freaking oyster. He doesn't even bother with brakes on his bike. He doesn’t need them. Jared just relies on algorithms and exponential curves in his mind. He can calculate all of his routes and knows how to pick the ones that won't get him hurt or killed. They all call him reckless, but he doesn't care. What he does is an art, a skill, and he’s fucking good at it.  
  
So maybe it's this attitude that lands him in his current situation.  
  
Jared’s sailing through the air at 30mph, seconds after his bike is rammed into by one of those fucking yellow taxis. For a moment, he feels weightless, almost like he’s disintegrating into thin air. Seconds later, his back hits the tar and pain floods into his system. Someone screams his name in the distance but it sounds muffled, like he’s underwater and can’t breathe.  
  
Fuck.

  
**January**  
 _Hey Chad, I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days. Could you collect my mail for me? I swear to God, that old lady downstairs keeps on stealing it. Later, bro_  - Jared.  
  
 **February**  
Jared's in the video store, looking for a few action flicks to rent when he walks smack bang into someone. At first, he wonders who else would be renting something, because this place is usually dead when he's here. Jared supposes that Netflix and the internet is the cause of that. Not that he cares much, all he has is an old desktop computer and he can't afford to screw up his phone. Hence, the rental store and what...appears to be the hottest guy Jared's ever laid his eyes on. The guy's got short, stylishly cropped, light, brown hair. His eyes are a vibrant green, and his face is pale but covered with a smattering of freckles. As his eyes veer downwards to the guy's mouth, Jared notices that the full, pink lips are moving. He blinks and takes a step back.  
  
"What?" He says stupidly, and the guy laughs and rubs at the back of his neck adorably. There's a hint of a blush on his cheeks and Jared wonders when he started to find a mundane thing like blushing  _cute_. He puts it down to the fact that he's practically been a monk over the last couple of years.  
  
"I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else here at this time of the day," the guy says with a small smile and Jared chuckles.  
  
"Yeah, I don’t usually see anyone when I’m here." There's a short silence as they sort of just stare at each other and Jared smiles awkwardly and holds up the DVD case in his hand,  
  
"Guess I better go check this out then," he says and Jensen smirks at him, and Jared's hit by wave of arousal. Who knew that a simple upturn of lips could have such an effect on him?  
  
"Have fun with The Princess Diaries," the guy says, and he saunters away, leaving Jared feeling extremely embarrassed. However, he still checks out the movie, and thinks about how he’s probably just going to picture the hot guy’s smile as he watches it.  
  
They meet up again by the cashier desk, both of them with stacks of DVDs, and a few games in the other man's case. Jared would happily rent a couple of games himself, but he hasn't had access to his Xbox 360 for what seems like forever. There's no one at the counter, so Jared figures that Chris, the owner, is probably out back sneaking a cigarette. He catches a glimpse of the movies in the guy's hand and quirks an eyebrow.  
  
"I'm Jared," he blurts out because he doesn't want to keep on calling the guy 'Hot Guy' in his head.  
  
"Right," the guy says with a nod. "I'm Jensen." Jared runs the name back and forth in his head and decides that he likes it.  
  
"We should recommend each other movies next time we're both here,” Jared suggests and Jensen laughs. The low, rough sound of his laughter hits Jared right in his gut and he does his best not to jump the guy.  
  
“Maybe,” Jensen says. He takes his items and leaves, but Jared still has a good feeling about it.  
  
\--  
  
Jared's returning his rentals when he spies Jensen stocking the shelves. There's no one at the counter so Jared assumes that Jensen is working here. Instantly he feels embarrassed about his request to compare movies. He waits for a few moments before Jensen realises that he's there.  
  
"Oh hey, Jared right?" Jensen grins at him as he makes his way around the counter, hands held out to take Jared's DVDs.  
  
"Yup," Jared says with an awkward chuckle. "That's me. You're working here now?" Jensen nods as he scans the discs and puts them on the returns shelf.  
  
"I'm new in town, but I know the owner of this place from back home," he says, and only then does Jared detect the barely there Texan twang in Jensen's voice. For a brief moment it stirs up a flicker of a memory but Jared shoves it away. Dwelling on the past has never been his forte; he’s not going to start now.  
  
"So does that mean that you'll need someone to show you around?" Jared figures to hell with it. It's been months since he last hooked up with someone, and even longer since he's been in a relationship. Perhaps it’s high time that he did something about that.  
  
"Maybe," Jensen says with a coy smile. "You offering?" Jared grins back, making sure that his dimples are on show. He does an inner fist pump of triumph when Jensen starts to look a little flustered.  
  
"That depends on whether or not you're interested," Jared replies eventually. Jensen nods at him and goes back to scanning Jared's selections. Jared's confidence falters for a moment as he wonders if renting out movies twice in one week is a good impression to make. What if Jensen thinks he's a lazy asshole who doesn't do anything all day long?  _You’re being ridiculous_ , he tells himself. Yet, there's some niggling self-doubt and Jared clears his throat.  
  
“Sorry, that was presumptuous of me,” he says uncomfortably, willing to forget about his purchases in favour of just getting the hell out of there. “I’ll just go.”  
  
“Hold up a second, “Jensen says as Jared starts to back away. “I wasn’t saying no, I just can’t seem to figure out how to get this DVD to show up on the screen. Chris has gone home already.” Oh. Jared laughs softly as he berates himself for overreacting like that.  
  
“That happens sometimes,” he replies. “Usually you just punch in the numbers on the barcode. It’s probably been damaged somehow.” Jensen does as instructed, brows furrowed as he peers at the screen. It seems to work because he lets out a whoop and tosses the disk onto the return shelf.  
  
“Congratulations!” Jared says, not caring that his voice is dripping with sarcasm. Jensen doesn’t seem to mind either judging from the smile on his face,  
  
“So I can expect a celebratory drink after this grand tour you’re taking me on then?”  
  
“Maybe,” Jared replies with a non-committal shrug. He and Jensen both know that he means  _yes_.  
  
\--  
  
The grand tour ends up being more of visit to the Empire State building and then a meal at this hole in the wall restaurant near his apartment. Jared feels bad for not having more places to show him, but he doesn’t want to spend time with Jensen in tourist jammed places when all he wants to do is talk to the guy and have a peaceful date – or whatever this is. When he apologizes for the crappy tour, Jensen smiles and says,  
  
“It’s fine.”  
  
“Hey, there’s always Central Park,” Jared suggests. He prefers cycling around Central Park and breathing in the air. Of course, the air in New York City is probably riddled with fumes and all kinds of shit, but Jared shrugs it off. Out of sight, out of mind. “If you have a bike or something we can maybe go for a ride?” Jensen agrees and Jared smiles all the way through desert. When Jensen leans over to kiss him chastely, his smile only grows wider.  
  
They spend most of their day talking about random things and familiar topics like their favourite movies and books. Jared’s mentions his time at NYU and doesn’t pry when Jensen says that he never went to college. They stop off at Jared’s place to grab his bicycle and agree that Jensen can rent one at the park. They take the subway to Central Park and spend an hour riding around as Jared points out various things and tells a lot of stupid stories just so he can hear the sound of Jensen’s laughter and watch his bright, green eyes light up. Jensen has this way of looking at him like he’s the only person who matters and Jared has to hold back from shivering a couple of times. Memories of Dylan threaten to throw him off his stride, but things with Jensen have gotten off to a good start. Even so, he rides extra carefully, making sure to not draw attention to the fact that he doesn’t have brakes.  
  
At the end of the day, Jensen walks Jared back to his apartment and they share a long, slow, tantalizing kiss and Jared can’t help the swell of happiness that rises up within him.  
  
\--  
  
Jensen calls him a couple of hours after he arrives at home, and Jared's surprised. Not because he doesn't want Jensen to call, but because he's never had anyone call back on the day of their first date before. With Dylan it'd been a week of aimless texting before he found out that their attraction to one another was in fact mutual. Jared wonders if he should have taken that as a sign, because he's pretty sure that Jensen's said more to him than Dylan did over the entire course of their relationship. Anyway, Jensen calls, Jared picks up and after they've said 'hey', he blurts out,  
  
"I had a really good time today." This is not only cheesy, but embarrassingly unoriginal. He briefly considers putting the phone on speaker so he can slap himself. Before he can be that dramatic, Jensen laughs. It's not unkind, and a warm feeling runs through Jared's chest. He wishes he could record Jensen's soft yet rough sounding laugh, and just play it over and over. Jared's really not sure what that says about him.  
  
"I had a good time too," Jensen says. "Despite the fact that you're a Spurs fan, that still stings a little." Jared chuckles, they'd spent a lot of the day talking about all kinds of things, such as what it was like to grow up in Texas. Jensen had mentioned the Mavs, and while Jared wasn't really big on sports, he'd still managed to engage in some friendly banter. The whole thing had been  _friendly_  really. It was a good sign, Jared thought, maybe if things didn't work out they'd be able to stay friends. Though, he really wanted things to work out. Hanging out with Jensen had made him miss having someone to share things with. Most of his friends lived out of state or far away, and Jared felt himself longing for an active social life, as well as an actual friend in the flesh. There was his neighbour, Chad, but they barely ever saw each other.  
  
"Jared?" Jensen's deep voice sounds in his ear and Jared snaps out of his head. "Sorry, I lost concentration for a bit," he says as he leans over to right the empty glass that he'd managed to knock over. "You might have to get used to that, if you're planning on sticking around."  
  
"I look forward to it." Jensen doesn't hesitate to respond and Jared can tell that he's smiling. "But try and keep it limited to when I'm with you, that way I at least have something pretty to look at it while you're lost in...day-dream land, or wherever." Jared's face flushes, he knows in some sort of abstract way that he's no ugly duckling, but still, he still has doubts like anyone else. He thinks his nose is too wide, that his eyes are too narrow and some days he really fucking hates his dimples. So it's nice to get the compliment, nice to know that his potential boyfriend thinks that he's... _pretty_ , though he’d probably appreciate a more manly descriptor.  
  
"Or, you could just get a mirror, something tells me that you'd like that," he jokes when the silence starts to drag. He's really got to stop drifting off in thought mid-conversation.  
  
"Sorry, Jared, your fantasy ain't my fantasy," Jensen's Texan drawl makes itself known and Jared grins. "Anyway, fantasies aside, I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie tomorrow night. If you're not busy that is. Chris gave me another night off." Jared's not sure what the protocol is here, is another date tomorrow too soon, or the best outcome from today’s. After a few seconds of contemplation, Jared shrugs, to hell with it, he's never been good at following rules anyway.  
  
"Sure, I'd love to, but only if I get to pick the movie." "Oh come on, you're probably going to make us see something with Katherine Heigl in it. I bet that you actually  _like_ her as an actress. I'm already dead certain that you love any form of rom-com, no matter how bile inducing they are."  
  
"I'm all about matters of the heart sprinkled with a liberal dose of humour," Jared replies as his grin widens.  
  
"Jennifer Aniston's bank balance is probably very grateful for that," Jensen says dryly and Jared's shoulders heave with more laughter. They talk for another hour or so, before they decide to call it a night. Eventually they settle on seeing some action flick that's been out for a while. Jared doesn't say anything but he hopes that means that they'll sit in the back and make out. He justifies this by telling himself that it'll be one less entry on his " _clichés I haven’t partaken in_ " list and smiles to himself as a sleepy sounding Jensen murmurs his goodnight.  
  
\--  
  
They spend the first hour of the movie actually watching the movie, or well Jensen does. Truthfully, Jared’s too busy dealing with the fluttering in his chest every time Jensen reaches for popcorn and allows his hand to brush against his. It seems like a trivial thing to get worked up over, but Jared’s on edge. He’s not interested in the plot, hell, he doesn’t even remember what it’s called, and he just wants to get to the making out part. Yet, he doesn’t want to ruin what’s mostly been an enjoyable date by jumping Jensen midway through the film. Jensen turns to him, seemingly oblivious to his plight.  
  
“So, at what point am I supposed to find any of this  _romantic_  or funny?” he whispers, because the theater is quite packed. Seriously, Jared should have insisted that they go see a movie that had been out for a few weeks.  
  
“I have no idea,” he says. “I’m ready to leave if you are.” Jensen’s hands are on him the second they leave the room, as they lean up against a wall and map each other’s mouths with their tongues. In between all of the deep kissing and bitten off moans, Jared comes to his senses and realises that somewhere some security guard is probably watching them and he breaks away from Jensen, and starts to walk towards the lobby.  
  
“You were driving me insane in there,” Jensen says as they’re walking and Jared laughs in disbelief.  
  
“You looked like you were pretty engrossed in the movie,” he replies, grinning as Jensen raises a brow. “Whereas, I can’t even remember a thing that happened.”  
  
“I’ve always been good at multi-tasking,” Jensen says with a shrug and Jared rolls his eyes.  
  
They spend a ridiculous amount of time in the movie theater lobby making out, because the rain’s splattering down outside and they haven’t quite reached the  _kissing in the rain_  cliché just yet.  
  
\--  
  
Their third date goes just as well, as does the fourth, fifth and sixth, and by the time the end of February comes around, Jared realises that he’s pretty much seen Jensen every day since that first time he attempted to show Jensen around the city. He realises that he really enjoys having someone to talk to for once, someone who actually has time to listen to him. Unlike the guys at work who hate his guts, and his friends who are all busy with their own lives. Jensen’s always there, always on the other end of the phone when Jared feels like talking, always happy to reply to his occasionally inane texts. Even though he’s only known the guy for a short while, Jared finds that he really likes him.  
  
He just hopes that he doesn’t do what he always does - screw things up.  
  
 **March**  
  
Jared’s just coming out of the shower when he hears his phone buzzing in the distance. He presumes that it is work, so he rushes over and hits the receive button.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
“Hey, it’s me,” Jared smiles as Jensen’s smooth voice filters into his ear. Though Jensen’s from Texas like he is, Jared can‘t really hear it in his accent. According to Jensen, years of moving around is the reason for that.  
  
“Hi!” Jared replies before he can get too caught up in his thoughts. "Hey, I just got out of the shower." He puts the phone on speaker, grabs his clothes and body lotion and dumps them on his bed.  
  
"Mm, tell me more," Jensen says and Jared feels his face flush. They haven’t had sex yet, just heavy make out sessions and a couple of mutual hand jobs here and there. It’s still a quicker progression than Jared’s used to. Not that Jared's a prude or anything; he just wants to take things slow. He likes to get to know his partners, plus he really likes Jensen and he doesn’t want to screw things up.  
  
Still, he can't help the way his body heats up a little at the thought of them getting a little risqué. "What do you wanna know?" Jared asks with a smile as he slathers his lotion on arms. There's some shuffling down the end of the line before Jensen speaks,  
  
"I wanna know if you're as hot as I imagined," Jensen drawls and Jared's breath hitches slightly. " how did you imagine me?" he says, not caring that his voice shakes a little. Jensen chuckles, and it reverberates across the room. "I'd rather talk about what I imagined doing to you," Jensen replies and Jared can't help the grin that forms on his face.  
  
"I'm not stopping you," he says as he sits down on his bed, dressed in nothing but a fluffy white towel. "I'm in nothing but a towel."  
  
"Well, firstly I'd have to rectify that, pull it down slowly and rub my hands all over you," Jensen says in a low, husky tone. "Then I'd kiss you hard, until you’re panting and moaning and saying my name in that sexy voice of yours. I'd kiss a wet trail down your chest all the way down until I reach your cock. I bet it's a big one, it is isn't it? Might not be able to take it in but I'd suck it all down anyway, make you cry out until you spill down my throat."  
  
Jared gulps and lets his towel slip away, his hand snakes down to where his hard cock is curling up towards his stomach and he runs his fingers through the pre-come gathered t the tip. He starts to jerk himself off as Jensen carries on talking. He can hear rustling in background and well, let’s just say that this phone sex thing isn’t bad at all.  
  
\--  
  
When they meet up for lunch the next day, the atmosphere is a little awkward. For all of Jensen's bravado, he blushes when Jared turns up at the restaurant and doesn't meet his eyes. Not that Jared blames him, it is a  _little_  embarrassing. He's had his fair share of embarrassing moments what with being 6"5' and a klutz to boot. So he does his best to diffuse the situation.  
  
"So this is awkward, right?" Jared buffs a quiet laugh. "But I really enjoyed last night." There's a short moment where Jensen looks up slowly, and Jared lets the chatter and the noise from the restaurant filter in. It all falls away when Jensen's face breaks into a wide smile, his eyes shining as he looks at Jared.  
  
"I had fun too," he says before his face takes on a sheepish expression. "I don't usually do anything like that, but I guess you bring it out in me.” They both laugh, quietening down when the waitress shows up to take their orders.  
  
“So, you know that I secretly have a thing for cheesy, teen movies, what are your guilty pleasures?” It’s a weak conversation topic that Jared’s sure that they’ve had before but he thinks that they need something to get them started.  
  
“Besides you, you mean?” Jensen says with a teasing glance. Jared raises an eyebrow in response. Jensen just laughs softly and holds up his hands. “While my taste in movies is nothing short of impeccable, I might have an inexplicable love for  _Coyote Ugly_.”  
  
Jared shoots him a mock offended look, “Coyote Ugly is a  _classic_  movie that was before its time!”  
  
“Right, because dancing on tables in a bar as a Leann Rimes song plays is  _progressive_ ,” Jensen replies and Jared snorts.  
  
“We should watch it together sometime,” he suggests. “Something tells me that your commentary will be a lot different from mine.” Their food arrives just as Jensen’s about to answer, and there’s an awkward pause as they wait for the server to leave.  
  
“I’d like that,” Jensen says mere seconds after the server retreats from their table. “We can watch it tonight if you’re free?”  
  
Jared thinks about how he’d asked for some extra deliveries for later. It’s not that he wouldn’t have time afterwards, but without a nap he’d be terrible company. He doesn’t really want to pass up on an opportunity to hang out with Jensen some more.  
  
“Sure, what time?” he asks.  
  
“Any time after nine is good,” Jensen says. “It’s officially my last day at the store. Chris is selling it off so he can tour with his band. He told me to tell you.”  
  
“Seriously?” Jared says with a frown. “Where the hell am I going to get my movies from now?” As he says it he realises that it’s not really the movies that he’s upset about but more the store itself. Ever since college, he hasn’t really had a lot of friends here in NYC. He keeps in touch with a few of them via email and text but it isn’t the same. Now it feels like he’s being abandoned by one more thing in his life.  
  
“There’s always Netflix?” Jensen suggests with a small smile, and Jared can see the concern in his eyes. He shakes off the bad feelings and smiles back.  
  
It’s not the end of the world.  
  
\--  
  
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Jensen says when Jared opens his apartment door. Jared waves off the apology as he stifles a yawn. He’s already got the movie set up on his TV, has done for an hour or so. Truth be told, he’s been too busy dozing on his couch to be upset over Jensen’s lateness. Mike had sent him on three jobs that were nowhere near each other and despite all of the hours that Jared put in at the gym; they’d left him feeling worn out. He’d gotten home at eight, taken a nap for an hour and had two cups of coffee but he was still tired. Jared just hoped that he didn’t end up drooling on Jensen’s shoulder.  
  
~  
  
He wakes up with a start a couple of hours later and finds himself leaning into Jensen. After taking a couple of seconds to appreciate how  _good_ Jensen smells, he sits up slowly and blinks at the ending credits rolling up on the screen.  _Crap._  
  
“How long have I been asleep for?” he says groggily and Jensen shifts and turns to look at him with a soft smile on his face.  
  
“Around about the five minute mark,” he answers with the amusement clear in his voice. Jared is mortified.  
  
“Did I drool on you?” he asks and Jensen doesn’t bother to conceal his laughter.  
  
“Nope, you did kinda mumble my name a little, said something about how  _hot_  I was.”  
  
“Yeah, right,” Jared says as he jabs Jensen with his elbow lightly. “I’m sorry for falling asleep on you though.”  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Jensen says. “At least now I know how adorable you look when you’re asleep.”  
  
Jared huffs, “By adorable you mean very manly and tough, right?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
\--  
  
Jared pulls up at the bike courier office quickly, hops of his bike, locks it up and rushes inside. He's only half an hour late but that's enough for him to have missed the good jobs. He tucks his helmet under his arm and approaches the desk where his boss, Mike is placed. There's another guy leaning at the desk talking to Mike and Jared eyes him up curiously. Hmm.  _Fresh blood._  Mike spots Jared and quickly reels off a job for him. Jared inputs the necessary information onto his phone and turns to the new guy as  _Google Maps_  calculates his route.  
  
"I'm Jared," he says as he offers a hand. As the guy turns around Jared realises that it’s Jensen. Jensen takes his hand anyway and shakes Jared's lightly, his grip is strong with little pressure and Jared does his best to ignore the tingle running down his arm. Jensen shoots him a wink, and Jared quickly catches up.  
  
"I'm Jensen," Jensen says and Jared grins. He's only got a 40 minute window for the job just given to him, but he knows that he can make it in twenty five. He's got time to chat. Jensen smirks at him, as if he knows what Jared’s thinking.  
  
"So what brings you to this fine establishment?" He asks with a dimpled grin.  
  
"I like to ride," Jensen says with a shrug. "I figured that I might as well get paid for it. Plus, I know a guy who does this job and he makes it sound _almost_  as fun as  _Fast and Furious_."  
  
"He sounds like he’s smart guy,” Jared says huskily and Jensen raises an eyebrow but smiles despite himself.  
  
“He likes to think so.” Jared grins and goes to grab his helmet. Jensen blows him a kiss just as he’s on his way out of the door. Jared definitely does not blush.  
  
\--  
  
Jared's eyes flutter open as a door clicks shut and the scent of coffee wafts into his nostrils. He doesn't recognise his surroundings right away but soon he remembers. Jensen. Beers. Shots. The two of them bursting into Jensen's apartment, clothes half off as they grapple with each other as they kiss each other hungrily. Jensen slamming Jared's back against the wall and jerking him off right there and then as Jared moans his name softly. There’s a lot more to remember, but Jensen’s return to the room puts the memory on hold.  
  
"Hey, where did you go?" Jensen's smirking at Jared as he snaps back to reality and Jared grins back.  
  
"Just remembering last night," he says with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle. Jensen rolls his eyes fondly and starts inhaling coffee. Once he's done, Jared sits up with a yawn.  
  
"What time is it?" He asks.  
  
"Almost 6," Jensen answers and Jared groans. He's supposed to be picking up the early packages today. Mike pays them an extra $20 more per delivery and Jared's $50 short on his rent.  
  
“So…you’ve decided to join the dark side and actually do an exciting job?” Jared says as he pulls on his pants. He’s not sure how he feels about Jensen showing up at his work place. Sure, Jensen knows what he does and he knows how much Jared loves it, but up until yesterday, Jared had no idea that Jensen could even ride that fast. They’ve only been seeing each other for a month, but Jared feels like what they have means something. It feels like their relationship is going somewhere. Yet neither of them seems to be ready to open up to each other.  
  
Jared can’t help wondering why that is.  
  
 **April**  
  
When Jared gets back from a delivery to the Plaza, there's a lot of commotion in the crammed, tiny office. Not that Jared's focused on what's happening; he just wants to know who'd stolen his Hilton drop. He'd delivered his own envelope and asked to collect one, only to be told that it'd already been picked up. When Jared enquired about whom it was, the desk clerk had only said, "He was prettier than me." While Jared's pretty sure that he knows who she means, he's not rushing to conclusions. He throws his helmet towards the side angrily and everyone pauses to look at him.  
  
"What the hell, man?" He says to Mike. "Someone's been stealing my drops." There's a pause for a few minutes as everyone looks away awkwardly and Jared scoffs. Of course. It's not like any of them care that he's being shafted.  
  
"Look, it was on my way," Jensen is saying as he steps forward. Jared can't help gaping at the sight of Jensen in a ridiculous party hat, with an iced cupcake in his hand. "The boss okayed it." Jared is gobsmacked. He can maybe understand that the others hate his guts enough to steal his drops. He fucking  _slept_  with Jensen last night and they’ve been dating for a month, does that not mean anything?  
  
"He beat your time, Padalecki!" One of the other couriers, Aldis, turns to face Jared with a sneer on his face. " he has brakes on his bike too." Jared rolls his eyes and goes to retrieve his helmet. He's going home, to wallow on his couch and eat cold pizza because he can't afford his electricity bill.  
  
The last thing he hears before he storms out is Jensen calling his name.  
  


## APRIL 5TH

Jared's flying through the traffic, eyes calculating the different directions and turns he needs to make. A particularly precarious swerve causes a driver to call him a fucking maniac and Jared waves back in response. Irate New Yorkers hate the cyclists and Jared hates them right back. He slows down as he reaches the intersection, before picking up speed and powering through, dragging his hand across a Prius as he flies by. The driver sounds their horn furiously and Jared laughs to himself. He's so busy laughing that he almost doesn't see the truck heading his way.  
  
He turns left onto Lexington Avenue, picking up speed as he pushes his legs harder until warmth from the pedals bleeds through his sneakers. He jerks his bike to the right onto 72th street and darts through the minute space between the truck and the Mercedes-Benz next to it, wincing when he hears the tell-tale sign of metal colliding.  
  
He shrugs it off and quickly cycles across the lanes until he's going in the right direction. After reaching The Mall, he veers off the road and cuts into Central Park. His phone vibrates in his pocket to signal that he has a call, and he presses the receive button on his headset. A middle-aged couple gives him the stink eye as he slows down but Jared ignores them.  
  
"What?" It's probably something work related and Jared's not exactly on speaking terms with those jackasses.  
  
"Jared?" A voice that sounds like Jensen calls his name and Jared rolls his eyes.  
  
"No, this is Dorothy and I’m currently on my way to Oz,” he snarks as he cycles past a family of five, glancing at his watch quickly.  
  
“Look, I didn’t know that you guys didn’t share drops,” Jensen says quietly. “They were bitching about how I might as well do it because one day the cops are going to end up scraping you off the street. Do you really have no brakes on your bikes?”  
  
“Brakes are for pussies,” Jared replies. “I don’t need ‘em.”  
  
“That’s ridiculous,” Jensen shoots back. “I beat your time easily  _with_  a set of fully functioning brakes. Speed is about your agility and body strength. It seems to me like you’re too lazy to find a responsible way to be faster.”  
  
“Is there a reason why you called?” Jared says. “I’ve got a professor at the Natural History Museum who really needs this dinosaur tooth or something.” Jensen laughs at that, and the sound makes Jared’s knees a little weak. He doubts that their night spent together even meant anything to Jensen. He doubts that any of the time they’ve spent together has meant a damn thing.  
  
“Look, I just wanted to make it up to you,” Jensen says. “I don’t agree with the lack of brakes, but hey, maybe I can convince you to reattach them over dinner tonight at my place. What do you say?” Jared grins shakily, and even though he’s still a little bit angry, he agrees to meet up with Jensen.  
  
\--  
  
Dinner is interesting. Jared has a scrape under his left eye, caused by some idiot backing into him just before he'd turned onto his street. Jared had been going too fast to stop, and the no brakes thing meant that he took a tumble. While, he knows it's his own fault, he can't help feeling a little bit more bitter towards the hundreds of drivers that he passes every day.  
  
"If I say anything, you're going to get mad, right?" Jensen points toward his face and Jared sighs.  
  
“I don’t think we know each other well enough for you to give me a lecture,” he says after giving Jensen a long hard look. “Aren’t you still supposed to be trying to make a good impression on me?”  
  
“I’ve got plenty of time to do that,” Jensen says with a small grin. “After I try and talk some sense into you.” Jared smiles despite himself. It probably won’t be anything he hasn’t heard before. Still, he’s a fair guy. He’ll give Jensen his five minutes.  
  
“Do your worst,” he says and Jensen gestures him towards the couch.  
  
“You do realise that a bike like yours is designed to have brakes right?” Jensen asks. Jared rolls his eyes as he leans back, because he’s not a complete idiot. “I used to be a Junior Olympic cyclist, track cycling mostly and those bikes were specially designed to have no brakes. It would be stupid for someone to try and ride one of those things outside of a velodrome. You are endangering yourself by not having any.”  
  
“It’s not like anyone actually cares if I get hurt.” Jared snorts; he’s had enough flyers shoved in his face about cyclers’ rights and all kinds of shit. He tends to crumple them up and toss them because half of them are bunch of hypocrites. He’s seen some of them pulling fucking wheelies in front of 4x4’s and laughing about it. It’s every man for himself as far as he’s concerned.  
  
“I care,” Jensen says. “I’ve spoken to Mike about it too. You don’t have to be reckless in order to be fast. Hell, I’m willing to teach all of you how to be better riders if you’re all willing to stop fucking around in the streets.”  
  
“Would that make me the teacher’s pet?” Jared’s not sure how he feels about this, even though he can kind of see Jensen’s point. Just because he likes the way something feels it doesn’t mean that it’s right. Still, sometimes old habits die hard.  
  
“Mike told me that you’d probably rant at me for a good half an hour once I brought up the whole safety thing.”  
  
“Maybe he doesn’t know me as well as he thinks.” Jensen’s mouth quirks upwards at that but he doesn’t respond, just moves to show Jared to his kitchen/dining area. Jared can’t help scowling at his retreating back.  
  


## APRIL 6TH

Jared inhales his coffee as Jensen sits across from him, still half asleep. They hadn’t had sex after dinner just watched a movie and fallen asleep on the couch. Jared’s still not sure where they stand. He’s not sure about  _anything_. He’s been burned before when it comes to guys and he gets a weird sense that there’s something that Jensen isn’t telling him. He’s tired of being lonely, and tired of letting his past dictate his future. He can’t trust that Jensen won’t abandon him, but he can’t put all of his issues on Jensen either.  
  
“Am I forgiven,” Jensen says blearily before taking another sip of his second cup of coffee. Jared stands, and dumps his mug in the sink, before approaching Jensen and kissing him softly on the lips.  
  
“For now,” he murmurs before leaving the apartment.  
  
He’s late for work.

##    
  
APRIL 16TH

Chad's done a lot bad of shit in his life, he really has. He's laundered drugs, money and all kinds of contraband shit. Sure, he knows that it's wrong and illegal but it's a way to make money. Fast and easy, the way someone with his kind of problems needs to make it. He ignores the fact that his boss has killed off more people than he can count. Ignores the fact that one of these days The New York Hoods are going to be taken down and bring him down with them. A job's a job. All he has to do is smile and not ask questions. That's it.

There comes a time in every man's life when he has to question something. Like deciding whether or not you can ignore a death hit on an innocent mother and child. Chad might be an evil son of a bitch, but he's not that cold.

"I'm getting out," he says when he calls James, his half-brother. "I need your help. I have names and information that can bring these guys down."

"You're doing the right thing, bro," James says proudly and Chad doesn't even feel the slightest bit better. There's a chance that he might die, but it beats innocent people being murdered while he does nothing. James is one of the few clean cops that Chad knows. He’s gotten Chad out of all kinds of shit, and while Chad is grateful he sometimes wishes that James didn’t care so damn much. He has spent the last five years trying to get Chad out of the life, but it’s all been in vain. There’s only one way to get out of the life, and it isn’t pretty. Chad snorts to himself and thinks _, hell, maybe Prada specialises in designer body bags._

"Bring it down to the NYPD station and I'll fast-track it. See if they can start making arrests." Chad wants to laugh. As if he will ever be  _that_ stupid. He's seen hundreds of cops who are Hoods,  _hundreds_. Taking it to the police station would be redundant. No, he needs this information to be broadcast to the world. By someone who has access to a reputable news source.

"You want me to run it in the Times?" James says in surprise. "Why?"

"Not the paper," Chad replies. "Your crimes correspondent isn't as clean cut as you think he is. It needs to go national. Television; where it won't be able to disappear at the click of someone's fingers."

“Okay,” James says slowly. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do. But we need to talk about this first.”

“The less you know, the better,” Chad says. He hangs up before he can receive a reply.

\--

It takes Chad a few days to compile all the evidence he has on Jeffrey Dean Morgan and the New York City Hoods. At first he thinks about just handing in the scraps that he has the written threats, the pictures, and the videos. In the end, he changes his mind. He buys a second hand laptop and a knackered printer and a types it all up, before sitting back to watch as the printer spits out sheet after sheet. He doesn’t stop to think about the ‘what if’s’ and the ‘maybe’s’, doesn’t try to talk himself out of this. Instead, he simply writes. At first it’s just notes to explain a picture, or a phrase or a kill order. Names, dates, times, drug orders, batch numbers – that kind of thing. Except, as he works on it he finds himself adding his own narrative. Adding in extra details about just what it is a Hoods have to do to keep themselves alive. It feels good, cathartic almost, and Chad knows that this probably going to be his last chance to feel this way. Jeffrey  _will_  find out that it was him, and justice or no justice, Chad’s pretty sure that he’ll cease to exist by the time one of Jeffrey’s goons catch up with him.

Hell, if he’s not dead within 48 hours, then maybe then he’ll believe that there is a God after all.

\--

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a businessman, first and foremost. Sure the feds that aren’t on his side might call him filth and the locals might despise him. Besides, he’s done a lot for the New York Hoods and the city in general. He’s kept psychos off the street, stopped them from doing harm by giving them purpose.

He likes to think that he’s a decent man. Not that he cares what anyone thinks of him. What Jeffrey doesn’t like are rats. Snitches, whistle-blowers, whatever you want to call them. They’re always around. There’s always someone that can’t handle the heat. He’s yet to let one live.

“Have you found out which one of those punks took the information yet?” he asks as he stubs out his cigarette on his $50,000 ashtray. The room is full of putrid smoke and the acrid smell of tobacco, but Jeffrey’s tried and failed to give them up. He figures that he’s more likely to get taken out by a bullet. He hopes that it’ll hurt less, but he’s man enough to take the pain.

“No, sir,” says Lehne – his right hand man. Lehne’s a nasty piece of work but he has a knack for finding the toe rags and dealing with them quietly. After all the slip ups he made with that last batch of cocaine, Jeffrey knows that Lehne’s not going to get let him down.

Jeffrey doesn’t normally do second chances. He’s not going to give Lehne a third.

\--

Jared's last job of the day is at a small non-profit organization. Their headquarters is in this tiny building on some backstreet corner. The receptionist, Sandy, is there as usual and she smiles at him. He's always wondered why they use Mike's service to deliver, but as he looks around at the office he realises how naive he's been. It’s a small building that houses a couple of desks that are visible from where he stands. As far as he knows, this is the only part that they rent out. The computers and the old clunky desktop kind, though there are a few beat up looking laptops spread on one of the desks. They probably don’t have a lot of money, he muses.

As Sandy disappears into the back area to grab the package, Jared wanders over to the notice area. It's mostly a bunch of leaflets for shelters and a few NYPD bulletins, but something catches his eye.

"Are you interested in our job opening?" Sandy's re-emergence startles Jared and he turns around quickly. He gives her a half shrug and she continues, "You did political science in college, right? You should apply." With an uncertain chuckle, Jared says,

"What exactly do you  _do_?" He hates not knowing, hates the way that he's probably too old to not have a proper job yet, hates that he feels so confused at the moment. Without her explanation, Jared knows that he's going to consider to at least it, if only to prove something to himself.

For a brief second he wishes he could just call his mom and hash out his future with her. Lean in to her warmth as she gives him a tight hug, tucks his hair behind his ears and tells him that everything will be okay in that soothing way of hers. God, he misses her. He unclips the flyer and turns to smile at Sandy,

"Maybe I will," he says. She gives him a knowing look and he turns away, busies himself with shoving the package into his backpack. She opens a drawer and pulls out a thin sheath of papers. As she hands it to him, he sees that it’s an application form.

"You're way better than this courier job, Jared," she says and Jared bites his lip to stop himself from snapping at her. She’s right, he knows she is, but he’s had enough lectures. He doesn’t need them; he just needs someone to help him sort through the tangled web of thoughts cartwheeling around inside his brain. "Don't let some misconception of freedom rob you of a decent future."

~

He tells Jensen about the job a couple of hours later and he gives Jared a long, shrewd look. When Jared presses, Jensen shrugs and tells Jared that it's  _his_  choice to make.

"I  _know_  that." Jared is insistent. "I'm just not sure if I'm ready. I love riding." It's a flimsy excuse, he knows that too, but it's been a weird couple of hours. Almost as if everything he's been telling himself has been bullshit. Not wanting to sit in a stuffy suit all day long shouldn't be a reason for Jared to keep working his crappy job, right? Nevertheless, he can't just up and quit.

"Do you want to be working at Mike's forever?" Jensen's tone is quiet and even, yet the words still sting. It reminds him of his parents and that last conversation that they had. The thing is, back then he’d only wanted to take a year off. A year where he could just save up, discover who he really was, before he went looking for a career that he wanted. He'd gone to enough meetings with his college advisor to know that law school wasn't his only option. Although, it's almost as though the fallout with his parents had made him forget all of that, and put the wrong ideas in his head. Maybe all the recklessness and the idleness was his way of rebelling for the first time. The only problem was that his parents weren't here to see him do all of this shit. So really, what had been the point?

Jensen pulls Jared into his arms after Jared offloads all the jumbled thoughts that he's been dealing with. He rubs soothing circles on Jared's back as he tries to just  _breathe_. He tells Jared that he'll be there no matter what and Jared just clings onto him,  _hard_.

When Jensen pulls back, he says, "I know you think that I don't understand, but I do." Jared doesn't respond, he doesn't have anything to say to that. "I told you that I used to be a cyclist. I took part in the Junior Olympics and all kinds of shit. My family thought that I was going to be some world class athlete one day, and I was okay with that. I mean, I was young and I wanted what my parents wanted, right? But then it stopped being fun and it got _hard_ , not just physically but mentally. I was older and I was starting to realise that I didn't particularly want to compete anymore."

"Did you tell your parents that?" Jared asks when Jensen seems to be lost in thought. For a second he watches Jared with unblinking eyes before he seems to shake himself out of his daze.

“No,” he says firmly. “Hell no, not that they’d have listened anyway; they were the strict pushy kind. I love them but…there was a moment back then when I was started to resent them. It was like they were just pushing me so that they’d have something to brag about, y’know?”

“Must have been tough,” Jared comments and Jensen snorts. “What happened?”

“I took a tumble, blew out my knee,” Jensen says in a regretful tone. “Fucking hurt too, but a small part of me was glad. My parents didn’t see it that way, even after all the physical therapy I went through. My dad just sat there in the sessions and said ‘Good work, son’, like that was supposed to make it better.”

“So…they didn’t take it well when you quit then?”

“I didn’t quit, Jared,” Jensen says with a heavy sigh. “The docs said that if I continued with the cycling, I’d cause irreparable damage to my knee. That made a pretty final. My dad was pissed for the longest time, said I’d fallen on purpose. But in the end we worked it out. I doubt that he’ll ever know how much pressure he put me under but at least it’s all over.”

“Wow…that sounds…sucky.” Jared at a loss for what else to say and Jensen gives him a soft look.

“Sorry for offloading all of that,” he says, almost guiltily. “I was just wanted to make the point. You’re not afraid to stand up for yourself and what you want. Most kids would happily go along with what their parents wanted, because they need to support, the protection. But not  _you_ , you did what was best for  _you._ There are a shit ton of people who wouldn’t have done that. Hell, I didn’t do it when I had a chance. So if you think it’s time to leave Mike’s then that’s your choice.

“You’re not afraid to go after what you want, Jared. Make sure that doesn’t change. Stop doubting yourself.” It could sound patronising, but coming from Jensen it doesn’t. It’s not the most eloquent way of putting it but Jared can see what he’s saying. Truth be told, he feels like he’s done with talking for the day.

He leans forward and drags Jared in for a slow, sweet kiss. It lacks finesse but Jensen still smiles at him when they pull away.

“What would I do without you?” Jared blurts out before he can stop himself. His face warms up in embarrassment but Jensen simply grins at him.

“Spend a countless number of hours watching Coyote Ugly repeatedly?”

Jared just laughs.  


  


## APRIL 17TH

### 6:00am

Jared bumps into his neighbour Chad as he’s wheeling his bicycle out of his apartment. They’re not what Jared would call close friends, but they have an amiable friendship. Chad tends to work the night shift whereas Jared starts in the early morning, but occasionally they hang out. Something’s off this morning though. Chad’s face is as white as sheet and he looks terrified.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks. Chad doesn’t even respond right away. He just blinks and shakes his head slowly, like he’s in a daze. After about a minute, he clears his throat and says,

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. What about you, man? You still delivering shit?” Jared decides to ignore the weirdness and he nods,

“Yup, and still giving these crazy ass drivers hell.”

Chad snorts. “You’re a good kid. You should go to school, get a proper job,” he says. He doesn’t give Jared a chance to respond. “Are you working today, or just running errands?”

“Working,” Jared says as he pulls his door closed. “Why, you got a job for me?” Chad nods and Jared perks up at the sound of that. He’s run stuff for Chad before and his neighbour tends to tip him well (without Mike’s knowledge of course).

“Yeah, I do,” Chad’s voice sounds weird and distant and Jared frowns as Chad reaches into his pocket, pulls out an envelope and hands it to Jared. “This is just payment, but I’ll call your boss and get him to give you an address where you can pick up what I need delivered. I’ll catch you later.” Chad’s disappeared into his own apartment before Jared can say a word. He rests his bike against the wall and opens the envelope.

Jared guesses that there’s about a grand in cash inside it.

He does his best to swallow down his fear.

### 6:45am

Jared gets into work early, determined to make a little extra today. He's thinking of throwing a party at his place, so that he can invite his friends over to meet Jensen. He's pretty sure that four or five extra jobs should cover it. He cycles over to the store first and grabs a couple bottles of Mountain Dew and bottled water. Figures that the soda will give him the extra juice he needs. As he mounts his bike, he glances at the brakes attached to it wistfully. It's not that he goes any slower with them on. It's more that he feels like they're weighing him down. Jared knows that he's being stupid, but he misses the freedom he'd had before already.  _Suck it up, Padalecki_.

It takes him ten minutes to reach the courier office and he smiles to himself when he catches sight of Jensen's bike. They're taking things slowly, but Jared really likes the guy. Enough to go along with the training program anyway. God knows that half of the morons working at this place need some lessons on how to stay on their damn bicycles. After chaining his bike up, Jared makes his way in and heads over to the back area where the lockers are kept. At first he's humming to himself and minding his own business, but he hears Jensen's voice and stops to listen to it.

"So when are we going to do this?" Jensen is saying. "Late nights or early mornings?" There's a rustling sound and Jared hears Mike mumbling something. Jensen laughs, and Jared smiles to himself goofily as he pictures the look on Jensen's face.

"How exactly did you convince Padalecki to finally put his brakes back on? I must have asked that kid a million times." Jared rolls his eyes as he pockets his cell and slams his locker shut.

"Look," Jensen says suddenly. "You can't tell him that you asked me specifically to get him to start using his brakes."

"Why not?" Mike says. “Look, these guys won’t take safety seriously and he’s my best biker. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“We’re dating – that’s what the big deal is,” Jensen says quietly, though Jared can still hear him. “He could easily get the wrong idea. Especially when he finds out that I’m not a bike courier, and never will be.”

“You’ve known the guy for all two weeks,” Mike says. “He’s got you whipped already?”

“It’s been longer than that, and he’s just…sensitive,” Jensen says and Jared feels more tension seeping into his shoulders. “He doesn’t like being told what to do, I mean, I get the feeling that’s why he’s been doing this job for so long. Jared’s not going to go ahead with it if he thinks that you tricked him into it.”

Mike snorts, “Of course he will. That kid’s never going to give up his job, and maybe I’ll put my foot down for once. I’ve had the fucking NYPD on my ass for months.”

“He could quit,” Jensen says weakly and Mike makes a sad noise.

“Guys like that don’t know when to quit, Jensen. Maybe you should cut your losses while you can.” Jared waits for Jensen to say something, _anything_ ; but there’s only silence.

When Jensen does speak all he says is, “Look, I’m not asking you for relationship advice, I just want you to agree not to tell Jared about our arrangement.”

“So basically, you want me to lie by omission?” Mike asks, and the words just make Jared feel that much worse. Deciding that he can’t listen to much more of this, he makes his presence known.

With a frown, he shrugs his backpack onto his shoulder and leaves the locker room. Mike and Jensen are just leaving the break room at the same time and Jensen stops in his tracks when he sees Jared. Jared doesn’t acknowledge him at all, just looks at Mike.

“Do you have any jobs?” he asks, and Mike gives him a look. It’s almost as though he’s examining Jared somehow, and Jared shifts under the attention.

“Uh, not right now,” Mike answers eventually. “Maybe you should take the day off.”

Only then does Jared remember the conversation he’d had with Chad not even an hour ago, as well as the wad of cash burning a hole into his locker. It should tide him over  ~~for~~  the next couple of days. Fuck Mike, there are plenty of places that’ll hire him. They probably pay better too.

“Forget it,” he says coldly. “I  _quit_. Guess I do know when to quit after all.” He’s heading back into the locker room before Jensen or Mike can respond, unlocking it and grabbing the items, shoving them into his bag as quickly as possible. He can hear Jensen calling after him even as he shoves past them but he ignores it. Once he’s outside he calls Chad and leaves him a message.

### 7:12am

The one thing Mark Pellegrino hates about being a damn bicycle cop is that he has a success rate of about 5%. Which is wholly unacceptable, but the NYPD doesn’t seem to give a flying shit. Even so, he’s serious about his job. If he catches some stupid, punk ass teenager cycling on the damn sidewalk, he’ll slap them with a fine. Hell, he’d probably fine his own mother. If he had it his way, there’d be a picture of him under the word diligent in the dictionary, because today he has his sights set on one of those dumbass couriers. Specifically, the annoying kid with the ridiculous hair who never rides with fucking brakes on his bicycle.

Mark’s going to enjoy chasing that motherfucker and arresting his ass.

### 9:00am

Despite the fact that Jared’s called Chad three times in the last couple of hours, there’s been no answer. So Jared decides to go get his bike serviced at a nearby bike shop. He knows that it’s in good condition but now that he actually has some spare cash, he figures that it’s worth it. Luckily for him, his friend Adrianne is there when he arrives.

“Let me guess, you’ve finally seen the light and you want brakes on your bike,” is how she greets him and Jared huffs out a laugh. He thinks about saying no, but the truth is that what Mike said about him got to him more than he thought it would. He doesn’t want to endanger anyone else’s life, and he doesn’t want to end with a criminal record. Still, he has one job to do so he shrugs and says,

“I’ll be in tomorrow and I’ll even let you attach them yourself.” Adrianne snorts at him as he wheels his bike into the back. He doesn’t blame her; it’s nothing that he hasn’t said before. Except, this time is different. “I quit my job.” That draws a surprised gasp out of her.

In the end all she says is, “I knew that you’d see sense eventually.” She wanders off to serve a customer. He turns his attention to pumping his tires and deliberately not thinking about Jensen. Of course, it’s not that easy. The weight of his cell phone in his pocket is a reminder of all the unanswered calls and texts. Jared keeps running it around in his head. What are they anyway? Acquaintances? Fuck-buddies?  _Boyfriends_? Not that matters when Jensen’s just been lying all along. Jared wonders if anything Jensen said was true, or if it was just a ruse to get him to play nice and adhere to the fucking rules of the road. He thinks the latter would be a little extreme but the betrayal still stings a little. Jared realises that he should probably have let Jensen explain, but he’s not ready to listen to excuses, because that is all they ever are; excuses that lead him nowhere. He’s been hurt before, and for once he doesn’t want to go through all of that. So he chooses to bury his head in the sand, pretend that he’s not being unfair. Besides, who the hell does Jensen think he is anyway? He’s not some stupid teenager who doesn’t know what he is doing; he’s been doing this job for  _years_. Fuck Jensen and his stupid bullshit.

Jared’s not an unreasonable guy, he’s as stubborn as hell, but he’ll do the right thing if he needs to. Sure that prick of a bicycle cop Pellegrino has been tailing his ass for months, so long as he doesn’t catch Jared, there’s no issue. Still, Mike’s his boss, and he would have listened. He  _would have_.

_No, you wouldn’t have,_  an unhelpful inner voice says and Jared can’t even muster up the energy to tell it to shut the fuck up. With a heavy sigh, he straps on his helmet and gloves and calls out to Adrianne, informs her that he’s leaving.

He’s still got one last job to do.

### 9:30am

Mark’s resting across the street from the bike shop nearest to the PD, with a breakfast bagel in one hand, and a Starbucks cup in his offer. He devours the bagel, but leaves the drink untouched. It’s not coffee, it’s some crap called Jasmine Orange, so he has little interest in drinking it. It’s just his way of blending in and maintaining his inconspicuousness. He has to step up his game if he’s ever going to catch that floppy haired douchebag. However, he has to use reasonable force; apparently tackling a 3rd grader to the floor for cycling reckless is  _excessive_. Mark’s always thought that was the point of being a fucking cop. Sure maybe the caffeine gets him a little wired but still, red tape ruins everything. If he had a dollar for every person that’s tried to press counter charges against him, he’d be a rich, rich man. That should be sign of his competence. Obviously these criminals know that he’s got them bang to rights, and their  _claims_ are nothing but fiction. He knows that, his mother knows that, hell; even his damn  _goldfish_ knows that. Yet, the NYPD are blinded by their need to present themselves in a positive way. According to his chief, the media are leeches and Mark’s antics are a fucking Huffington Post article waiting to happen. Mark’s not one to judge, but he’s read the Huffington Post before, if anything an article about him would serve to improve the site tenfold. His boss doesn’t see it that way, and he’s on his final warning.

Personally, Mark doesn’t give a fuck; his termination is only a matter of time. He can walk away from the job.

Just not a moment before he catches his long haired nemesis. His lips curl up as he watches the kid wheel his bike out of the shop, helmet strapped firmly on his head, with that ridiculous hair visible beneath it. It makes Mark want to run a hand through his own cropped, blonde hair. He’s not sure when the youth of today started rebelling against haircuts, but fuck if the world isn’t screwed up anyway. The kid’s bike still doesn’t have brakes on it and Mark tuts to himself as he rids himself of the tea and bagel wrapper. He mounts his bike and waits for the kid to peel away, and as usual, he takes off at a ridiculous pace. Mark’s feet pump his pedals and he propels the bike forwards.

It’s show time.

### 9:35am

Jared’s on his way back to his apartment complex, doing his usual amount of dodging SUV’s and coasting along taxis, dragging his hand across their frames as he tries to match the speed of the traffic. His focus is mostly on the road, but he’s a little lost in his thoughts. So the voice that yells, “Hey you, cyclist in the red shirt – this is officer Pellegrino. Pull over!” comes as a complete surprise to him. He looks over his shoulder and swears under his breath when he catches sight of the weird bicycle cop that takes his job way too seriously. Seeing as how it’s his last day and all, Jared figures, fuck it, why not have a little a fun. He grins to himself and speeds up, pulling into a corner quickly as he realises that there’s a short cut he can take. He hears horns blaring angrily behind him as well as a distant, “ _Pull over now!_ ” and he laughs to himself.

A bell chimes behind him as he circles into the small alley, and he turns to see the cop is still tailing him. Pushing his legs faster, Jared increases his speed and cycles down to the end of the alley. It’s a one way, but there’s a bunch of apartments underneath it and all Jared has to do is cycle over the small wall, and onto the roof of the rusty shed he can see below. The quickening approach of Officer Pellegrino forces his hand and with a forceful shove, he rides off it, sailing in the air quickly, before he hits the ground and tumbles off his bike. It hurts a little, but not enough for him to stick around. He drags his bike off the road and hops back on it.

He doesn’t even check to see if Pellegrino is behind him.

### 10:00am

Jensen’s waiting outside Jared’s apartment when he reaches it and Jared grimaces. He’s not ready to face Jensen yet. He follows Jensen’s eyes to find that Chad’s door has been busted open. Without any further glances at Jensen, he pushes past him and steps into Chad’s place. Idly, he remembers that he shouldn’t touch anything, but that doesn’t stop him from looking. The entire apartment has been ransacked and turned upside down. Chairs have been knocked over, papers are strewn everywhere and Chad’s laptop is now a broken lump of metal. Clothes are littered all across the apartment, the curtains have been torn down, furniture overthrown and Jared feels his heart sink.

“There’s a message on the wall,” Jensen’s in spitting distance of where Jared stands, and he does his best not to jump. Still, the jittery feeling doesn’t leave him as he reads the message. “ _You’re dead_!” is scrawled on the wall in bright red letters and Jared can’t keep in the quiet gasp. He thinks back to this morning and remembers how ashen Chad had been, and how he’d been distant and quiet. Like his mind was elsewhere. For a second he thinks about just walking away, forgetting that he’s seen this. He’s not naïve; he recognises the symbol by the message. Chad’s a Hood. It makes Jared feel sick to his stomach for a second as he remembers all the stuff he’s delivered for Chad. He thinks about the grand burning a hole in his bag, the way Chad’s always looked out for him, chided him gently about going back to school and making something of himself. There’s a good guy in there somewhere; maybe that’s why the rest of the gang want him dead.

Jared’s cell rings, and he picks it up straight away, his brain still too muddled for him to remember to check the caller ID.

“Jared, it’s me,” Chad’s voice comes down the line and Jared backs out the ransacked apartment quickly, his keys are out and he’s unlocking his apartment hastily and entering, not even sparing a glance for Jensen who’s been quiet. “Look, what I’m asking you to do might be dangerous, and I’m sorry about that. I promise that I’ll to my best to protect you.”

“What the hel—“Jared’s question is cut off as Chad interrupts, “Let me finish.” Jared snaps his mouth shut and Chad continues.

“I’m a Hood and I’m turning over a shitload of evidence. I’ve given your boss the instructions, told him that you’re to do the delivery no matter what,” Chad says calmly. “Before that, I need you to ditch your phone. Crush it; flush it down the toilet – whatever. You’ll find a brand new one at the bottom of your clothes hamper. The only person who has the number is me, and don’t give it to anyone that you can’t trust. Mike will contact you via an email that I’ve set up on the phone. Whatever you do, do not turn the GPS on.”

It’s all so much for Jared to take in that he doesn’t even realise that Chad’s stopped speaking until something tugs at his elbow. He looks up to see Jensen giving him a concerned look and he yanks his hand away, not caring that Jensen’s face falls.

“Why the  _fuck_  did you drag me into this shit,” Jared spits out angrily. “I thought we were friends. You’ve been playing me all along.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re  _already_ involved.”

Jared scoffs in disbelief, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I think I’d know if I was in a fucking murderous gang.”

“Look, I have no beef with you,” Chad says sincerely. “I…I’m doing what needs to be done; I just thought that I’d have more time than this, but this is important, Jared, lives are at stake. The young woman who lives on the sixth floor with her little girl? They got the same fucking message on their wall a couple of weeks ago. I can’t let that happen. The police, man...they can’t be trusted. It’s just me. As pathetic as it is, you’re the only friend I have.”

Before Jared can respond the line goes dead, and he’s left staring at it pathetically. Without any warning, he turns and throws it against the wall, watching silently as he breaks, and the glass screen shattering with tinny sounds.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Jared, what the hell?” Jensen is saying. “What’s that symbol on the wall? Who was that on the phone?” All Jared can think about it is Anya, the woman that Chad referred to. He’d wondered why he hadn’t seen her and Natasha, her daughter, over the last few weeks. Anya baked him chocolate chip and honey oatmeal cookies occasionally. Jared still had a picture that Natasha had drawn for him stuck onto his fridge. There’s no way that he was going to refuse to do what Chad was asking of him, not with their lives at stake.

“Jared!” Jensen’s pulling at his shirt again and Jared  _loses_ it, shoves Jensen hard and takes a step back.

“Leave me alone,” he yells. “Just…go. Get out. Don’t come back – we’re done.”

“You’re upset; I’m not leaving you like this!” Jensen says, eyes flashing furiously as he takes a step closer. “Just tell me what’s going on. I’m here, okay? You can trust me.”

Jared starts laughing, quiet at first until it picks up tempo and volume and suddenly he’s roaring with it, tears prickling the corner of his eyes as he shudders violently. It’s more hysterical than anything and Jared doesn’t know why he’s freaking out so suddenly. Why he’s not a little excited by all of this – isn’t that what his dangerous riding is about? Seeking thrills and adventures? Yet, here he is, on the verge of a fucking breakdown or whatever and all he has to do is collect a parcel and deliver it. He doesn’t have to kill anyone, or fight anyone. He lets out another ugly snort of laughter as he remembers that he’s never even thrown a punch in his life.

He’s pathetic.

“You’re not,” Jensen says sternly. “You’re in shock. Drink this okay, and you’ll feel a lot better.” Jensen presses the cool glass into the crease between his lips and Jared lets the liquid flow into his mouth. It’s orange juice from the fridge and Jared winces at the bitter aftertaste on his tongue as Jensen sets the glass down on the table. He’s sitting on his couch, not even sure how he got there. Jensen, he supposes. Jensen who he’s probably just freaked the fuck out. Yet, Jensen’s still here and Jared can’t help the way his heart twinges, the way he wants to grab onto Jensen and never let go.

“Why did you lie?” He asks point blank, with his eyes resting firmly on Jensen. “Why didn’t you just tell me what you were doing?” Jensen doesn’t answer right away; he just shifts uncomfortably under Jared’s gaze. Jared’s caught between wanting to put him at ease and annoyance at the fact that Jensen can’t even look him in the eye right now.

“I was scared,” Jensen admits eventually and Jared feels the dread building in his gut. Scared? Jared has it on good authority that he’s about as menacing as a fucking teddy bear. That thought makes his stomach turn as he imagines how well he’d fear against the fucking Hoods. They’d eat him alive. “You’re so, I dunno, layered.”

Jared’s still lost in his thoughts a little so all he can say is, “What?” Jensen laughs humourlessly and runs a hand through his hair, causing his short spikes to look even more artfully messy that then had already.

“You present yourself as this confident guy who’s always happy and easy going when really, you care about what people think of you. You doubt yourself constantly and worry about saying the right thing. You’re just—“

“ _Sensitive_ ,” Jared says dully as he recalls the overheard conversation from this morning. Jensen waves a hand in a vague manner and shrugs, like he’s run out of words to use. He’s not wrong, Jared thinks, but he’s not right either. Sure he cares; he cares about what  _Jensen_  thinks of him, worries about saying the right thing to  _Jensen_. He has his doubts like everyone else, but they don’t define him, they’re not as prevalent as Jensen makes them sound. “Are you sure that you’re talking about me here?”

Jensen looks up so sharply that Jared is sure that he’s hit a nerve. Yet it makes sense in a way.

“Guess I deserved that,” Jensen mumbles and Jared shifts closer and takes Jensen’s hand in his, squeezing a little as Jensen’s warmth bleeds into his. He searches through his mind carefully, and tries to find the right words to say.

“Maybe we’re more alike than you think,” is what he settles on eventually. “Maybe you doubted yourself a little too.”

“I told myself that it was all  _you_ ,” Jensen says. “I was singing a fucking different tune yesterday and…that’s what I see in you. Not any of what I just said. God, I’m an idiot.” He tries to pull away but Jared holds on, his grip tight until Jensen finally relaxes. The conversation yesterday seems so far away now. As Jensen gives him a worried glance, Jared feels his anger, or irritation, whatever it is that he’s feeling, dissipate. He knows that he should have stuck around, given Jensen a chance to complain, knows now that it’s his fault too.

“You’re not entirely wrong,” he says comfortingly. “It’s not that I don’t care, Jensen, I just don’t focus on trying to be perfect. I never told you where I worked either so…it’s not your fault.”

“I saw a slip with a stamp from Mike’s on it in your apartment,” Jensen admits. “I knew where you worked and I went over, decided to try my luck and see if I could get a job. Not because I wanted to stalk you or anything, I just…I missed riding and seeing you ride everywhere brought all those feelings up.

“I got there and Mike sent out some guy to give me the tour, some weird looking guy called Steve. Only, there was no tour. He gave me a twenty and told me he’d deny it if I ratted him out to Mike. Said something about how the previous tour guy had been killed by a bus. He didn’t want any bad mojo.”

Jared snorts, that sounded like Steve.

“Yeah, Yanek – he taught me how to cut between two different cars, he was a….he was a good guy.”

“Right,” Jensen says slowly, and Jared can hear the bitterness in his voice. “Of course you’d say that.”

“Get to the point,” Jared says as he pulls his hand away, suddenly wary about where this conversation is headed.

“The point is that the second I got back, I spent a good fifteen minutes telling Mike that his service was not only dangerous to the general public, but to his workers. He must have thought I was insane, but hey, maybe I just haven’t adjusted to the NYC mentality yet,” Jensen shrugs. “I told him that it was only a matter of time before someone called the police, if they weren’t watching y’all already.”

“Lemme guess,” Jared says. “He threw you out of his office?”

“Damn straight,” Jensen said with a laugh and Jared was glad to see his eyes light up, just for a little while. It never failed to hit him in his chest, heart caught up at the sight of it.

Just for a moment, Jared wonders if this is love.

“I called the cops myself,” Jensen continues. “The next day he called me, offered me a job. Said I was gonna have to clean up the guys’ acts.”

“Why did you care so much?” Jared can’t help asking. “Why not just walk away?”

“Because of  _you_ , you idiot,” Jensen lets out a frustrated noise and looks up at Jared, his eyes full on an emotion that Jared tries desperately not to name. “You are the most stubborn, annoying, frustrating person I’ve ever met. With your no brakes mantra and fucking traffic exploits. One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed. I couldn’t just let that happen.”

The words trip a switch in Jared’s brain and suddenly Jared’s taken back a few years. Eyes on Dylan’s back as the words echo in his head.

_One of these days, you’re going to get yourself killed._

The phone on his coffee table vibrates just then and Jared’s thrown out of the moment. It’s just a normal run-of-the-mill iPhone, but it feels like so much more as the weight of the phone rests in his palm.

“That was Mike,” Jared says gravely. “It’s time.”

“Time for what exactly?” Jensen asks. “You still haven’t told me what’s going on?”

Jared stands and grabs his keys and backpack, clutching the cell phone tightly in his other hand.

“I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s go.”

### 11:59

All things considered, Chad’s selfish. He’s just as guilty as the rest of them, just as fucked up as they are. He uses this to keep Jared on his toes. He trashes his own apartment and writes the message on wall, adding the symbol at the last moment. It’s not how they usually send a warning, but Chad reckons that a burnt out apartment would be a step too far. It’s not a trick or game, just a way of keeping Jared safe. There’s only one thing that gets people to actually watch their backs. Fear, pure, unadulterated fear.

Chad’s not sure if his plan is smart or ridiculously over complicated. He compiles everything he wrote up and puts the videos on different DVD discs as well leaving it all up on his server. The server’s just a backup, a component that only comes into place if the information is compromised somehow, but it could take weeks, months or…never. He’d planted all of the information somewhere, some of it spread around the area, just in case. Lehne had been sniffing around last night, asking Chad questions and giving him strange looks. He knows that they’ll be tailing him all day. They definitely know what Jared looks like and what he does. So it makes sense to have the different pick up points. All Jared has to do is not draw any suspicion to himself.

Still, Chad of all people knows that is easier said than done. He leans back in his car and watches as Jared (and his boyfriend or whoever) enters Mike’s shop.

He waits.

### Midday

There’s a quiet hush as Jared walks into his now former workplace, it might just be down to the fact that there are only a handful of couriers but he’s pretty sure that his presence is what drives the usual commotion down. Mike’s in his usual spot at the desk, phone pressed to hand as he looks up at Jared warily.

“Listen Lehne, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says down the line as Jared is approaching the desk. Jared thinks the name is familiar, but he shrugs it off and leans on the counter. Jensen settles in next to him and Jared tries to think of a way to ditch him without it sounding like he doesn’t want Jensen around, because he does. They need to be able to talk later on and smooth things out. They’re not going to be able to do that if this fucking plan that Chad’s cooked up goes belly up. However, the determined look in Jensen’s eyes every time Jared looks at him shuts him up each time he comes up with a reason for Jensen to go. “Look, I have to go. Don’t call me again.”

Mike slams the phone down and swears loudly, before barking out a quick delivery for Aldis who escapes from the shop hastily. A pissed off Mike is not something that  _anyone_  wants to be around.

“I don’t suppose you’ve come to tell me that you’re not going quit without any notice after all?” Mike says as he scribbles something down on the notepad in front him. He doesn’t wait for Jared to answer, just hands over the paper. “I didn’t want to call you in here, but this guy insisted on you. He said that you were friends or something, that I should tell you that it was urgent.”

“Uh, yeah,” Jared replies with a nervous chuckle. “It’s fine, I can do it. Is this just an address?”

“Yup, you’re to pick up the delivery there and follow the instructions,” Mike says with a disinterested grunt. “Let me know if you’re in any trouble.” Again, he doesn’t wait for Jared to answer and Jared’s not sure why it stings a little. They’re not friends but they’ve always had a good working relationship and some banter here and there. Jensen tugs at his arm and they leave quietly.

As their unchaining their bikes Jensen says, “So are you going to tell me what all of this is about, or am I going to have to guess?”

“Go home, Jensen,” Jared answers tiredly. “I’ll call you.” The sun’s out in full force now, shining right into Jared’s eyes and he looks down, tries to protect himself from its glare. He can hear the familiar sounds of traffic in the distance, screeching brakes and irate drivers sounding their horns, and a muffled hum of voices cascading over each other.

“Right, even though you just smashed your old cell to pieces,” Jensen says. “Or have you forgotten that I saw that? Have you forgotten that I watched as that phone call scared the living daylights out of you, that I’ve been here the entire time?”

“Well here!” Jared yells, cramming the new phone into Jensen’s hands. “Program your number in and then go home, go wherever. I need some space.”

“No,” Jensen says firmly even as he’s programming the number into the phone. “Not unless you tell me what’s going on, and even then, I can’t leave you by yourself. You shouldn’t even be riding right now.”

“You stubborn son of a bitch,” Jared says through grit teeth as he slides a leg over his bike and sits on it. “Fine. Do what you want.”

As he rides off, the tell-tale ring of Jensen’s bell lets Jared know that he’s right behind him.

### 12:20pm

Jeffrey sometimes thinks that he would have made a kick ass behaviour analyst. As he observes Lehne’s hunched over shoulders and nervous eyes, he’s reminded of the thought.

He has his gun out before Lehne can even get the words out. A shot rings out and he winces as blood and brain matter splatter onto the walls of his office. Jeffrey can’t help feeling a welcome burst of euphoria at the sight. That’ll up the cleaning bill, he thinks. Or maybe he’ll get that little runt Murray to do it. It’s been a while since Jeff’s put the fear of God into him.

With a disappointed shake of his head, he uses his glove clad fingers to place the gun next to Lehne’s hand. As he steps over the body, he cracks his knuckles.

He’s going to have to find the little rat and give them a matching bullet hole in the head.

He thinks of the  _If it’s a job worth doing, do it yourself._

### 12:30pm

The ride from Mike’s to wherever it is that Jared’s going is hell on Jensen’s knee. Here’s the thing, he’s not as fast as Jared, isn’t even half as fast. Not anymore, and not if he knows what’s good for him. That time when he’d beat Jared’s delivery time had been a lie. Mike told him to get the subway or the bus in between the delivery and made sure that a couple of guys were hanging out in the back office that day. Jensen feels like a complete asshat for lying, but that’s not his main concern right now. Jared’s acting like some sort of crazy person, and that coupled with the vast array of cars on the streets, is not a good combination. So Jensen powers forward, ignores the twinge in his knee and does his best to keep up.

He manages it for a good twenty minutes, lagging behind Jared slightly but only by a tiny margin. Eventually the pain becomes unbearable and he has to stop. He cycles onto the sidewalk, and leans on a post, leg dangling onto the ground as he winces. He thinks about calling out, but he doesn’t want to have to watch as Jared takes his opportunity to get the hell away from him. He slowly dismounts his bike and watches as Jared cycles ahead and eventually turns right into another street.

After that he rubs his hand down his face and closes his eyes briefly.

### 12.32pm

Jared’s cell rings and he activates the Bluetooth headset that Chad had the foresight to provide.

“What?” he says. Only one person has the number after all, it’s not like he’s going to be met with his mom chastising his phone skills. That particular thought leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and Jared does his best to push it away.

“Go back and help your boyfriend out,” Chad says down the line. Jared glances back quickly and only then does he notice that Jensen isn’t behind him anymore. Without any questions, he turns back, cycling slowly as he speaks to Chad.

“Where is he?” Chad tells him and Jared picks up his speed. It’s not too far away from where he is. “Are you following me?”

“I told you that I’d keep you safe,” Chad says shortly. “Wait there for me.” Chad’s gone before Jared can protest, and Jared rolls his eyes.

Jensen’s stretching his leg out by his bike when Jared pulls up next to him. Jared feels a twinge of guilt as he remembers that Jensen has a dodgy knee. Fuck, he’d probably been going too fast, but that’d been the only way he could clear his head and try not think about how The Hoods would kill him.

“We lied,” Jensen says quietly. “About beating your time. I took the subway.” It takes Jared a few seconds to realise what Jensen means and when he does, he finds that he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about some bullshit time at his bullshit job, doesn’t care that Jensen lied about it, because it doesn’t matter. What matters right now is Jensen.

“How’s the knee?” he asks and Jensen only pulls a face in response. “I wish I could say that I felt some sort of telepathic niggle and came back for you, but I didn’t. Chad called to say that you’d stopped. I’m sorry I didn’t notice.”

“He’s watching us?” Jensen looks around frantically, trying to see if he can spot Chad. Though, Jared’s not sure if even knows what Chad looks like.

“He’s going to meet us here,” Jared answers with a shrug. “Maybe he’ll bring us a tandem bike. That way you won’t have to catch up with me.”

“Oh har har,” Jensen says, but he’s smiling a little. Jared watches him for a few seconds before he sighs, and smoothes a hand down on his shorts. There’s a small graze on his knee from this morning and only then does he remember Officer Pellegrino and the aborted chase. It’s been a long fucking day, and it’s not even 3pm yet. He looks up and sees that their right in front of a small restaurant that appears to serve burgers. As if on cue, Jared’s stomach grumbles and Jensen laughs beside him.

“You want anything?” he asks and Jensen shakes his head.

-

By the time he gets out of the place – armed with two burgers because Jensen’s got to eat too – there’s a black Vespa on the road where Jensen’s standing, as well as Chad. Jared takes another bite out of his burger; he needs the sustenance right now. Jensen and Chad are talking quietly, but they stop as he nears them.

“I was just giving Jensen the 411, wasn’t I?” Chad says flatly, though there’s something in his tone that Jared can’t quite place.

“Yeah,” Jensen says tonelessly and Jared looks between the two of them uncomfortably.

“Does somebody want to explain the Vespa?” He asks, figuring that the weirdness will disintegrate with a subject change. Chad and Jensen share a look and Jared bites back his frustration.

“It’s for him,” Chad says. “If he’s going to stick around, he can’t keep slowing you down and he refuses to sit this out.”

“You’re lucky that I’m not calling the cops,” Jensen says suddenly. “Why can’t you deliver this yourself? I don’t see why you had to involve Jared in your mess.”

“Call them and you and Jared will be dead before so much as a squad car shows up,” Chad says with a sneer as he takes a step closer to Jensen. “I have a meeting with Morgan, leader of the Hoods, he knows that someone stole information from his office but not who. So unless you want to get all of us killed by corrupt cops who take hand outs and don’t give a damn about this city, I suggest you keep your mouth shut.“

“That’s enough,” Jared says. “Just…keep on looking out for us, okay? You have to promise that you won’t abandon us.”

“Like I said, I’ve got your back,” Chad says gently. “I’m a lot less stupid than I look. But just in case, take this.” Jensen mutters something to the contrary under his breath as Chad reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. He hands over a manila package to Jensen, who unravels it straight away, eyes widening as he peers into it. He shows it to Jared. It’s a gun.

Holy fucking shit.

As Chad stalks away, Jared goes back to eating his burger, chewing mindlessly as he tries his best not to freak out.

 

 

# 

## 1:07PM

They reach the first destination half an hour after their meeting with Chad. It’s a gym, and Jared frowns up it as he chains his bike to the rail outside and unclips his helmet. Jensen’s already there with a wide-eyed look on his face and his hair up in every direction.

“Have you ever ridden one of those things before?” Jared says in an amused tone.

“Not for a long time.” Jensen shakes his head as if he’s trying to clear it, and Jared’s not sure if he finds it funny or he’s just desperately trying not to become hysterical again. Either way, he laughs shakily.

As he looks down at the paper, he sees that under the address is a code. It’s a jumble of letter and numbers that he doesn’t understand.

Inside the gym, he shows it to the receptionist and she types into her computer. After a few seconds, she hands the slip back to him with a sad look in his eyes.

“You must be here to collect Mr Roberts’ things,” she says and Jared just nods. She directs him and Jensen to the locker section and provides him with the spare key and disappears after telling him to drop it off before he leaves.

“So Chad’s stashed his shit in a dead guy’s locker,” Jensen says dryly. “That’s classy.”

“What exactly did Chad tell you?” Jared asks as he unlocks the locker and pulls out a brown envelope. He doesn’t bother to look inside it, just rips of the slip affixed. It’s another address and another number.

After he shows it to Jensen, Jensen asks, “Why can’t he just get us to pick up one package?”

“It’s possible that they know who I am and what I do, I guess it’s less suspicious this way.”

## 1:30PM

Mark’s just finished yelling and subsequently fining a bunch of kids who’ve been throwing food on the floor when someone whizzes by him.

“Hey!” he shouts. “Slow down!” He jumps onto his own bike and only when he’s cycling after the person does he notice the red t-shirt. It’s the floppy haired asshole and current bane of Mark’s existence.

It’s highly likely that Mark possibly needs to get out more.

## 1:31PM

Jared hears a shout behind him and he turns round quickly and spots Officer Pellegrino chasing after him. He pedals faster as he rounds a corner and darts between an SUV and one of those fucking taxis. He winces as the car horns blare behind him and stops as he reaches an intersection. The light’s red and a bus is about to turn in, but if he waits, Pellegrino will definitely catch up with him. With his decision made for him, he quickly calculates the distances and times in his brain. The first two options, darting behind the rear of the bus or turning the wrong way – aren’t great. So he’s left with cycling past the bus right after it turns in.

That probably isn’t the best idea he’s ever had. As he flies past, he bike lurches violently and he topples off it, landing right in the middle of the road. Before he can stand up, the sound of a revving engine sounds near him and he tilts his head up to see Jensen staring down at him with an annoyed look on his face.

“It’s not exactly a tandem bike, but I’m sure that there’s enough space on this thing for both of us.”

“What about my bike?” Jared says sullenly even as he’s hopping onto the Vespa, snug against Jensen’s back. He rights his backpack and tightens the straps before wrapping his arms around Jensen’s torso.

“Fuck your bike,” Jensen says as he drives away from it, and Jared doesn’t say another word.

## 2:08PM

Destination number two is located in an apartment complex. It’s a lot more high scale than the shithole that Jared lives in and he finds himself feeling a little envious. The only thing written on the slip is 34 and as they find that apartment, he searches the envelope for key to no avail.

“Check under the mat,” Jensen suggests as he leans back on the wall and clucks his tongue quietly. He still looks a little pale, as if he’s knee is hurting more than he let on but Jared doesn’t think that Jensen will take too kindly to questions right now. He hasn’t said a word to Jared since he picked him up, and Jared knows that Jensen’s angry with him. He doesn’t blame him, this was supposed to be a normal day, not a day occupied by a fucking treasure hunt designed by a freaking Hood. He thinks about the cash still burning a hole in his pocket, and he decides to give half of it to Jensen. After he double checks that Chad hasn’t given him dodgy bills that is.

Jared drags the mat aside with his sneaker and sure enough, there’s a lone, silver key there. He smiles at Jensen in triumph but Jensen just rolls his eyes and looks away. He tries to ignore the way that makes him feel, as if Jensen’s fed up of him, just like Dylan evidently was back then. He shakes those thoughts from his head, and quickly unlocks the door. He doesn’t bother searching for Chad’s envelope yet, just flops down on the couch moments after he sees it. The phone vibrates in his pocket and he answers via Bluetooth.

“What’s lover boy’s problem?” Chad says easily, like they’re already in the middle of a conversation. “Is he… _pouting_?” Jared snorts a little but he doesn’t say anything, doesn’t want to piss Jensen off even more.

“Nice work with the dead guy at the gym,” he says dryly.

“There was no dead guy,” Chad points out and Jared’s not sure where the sigh of relief comes from. “I hacked their system and cloned an account, used fake details and financials to create a new one before killing off the customer. Relax.”

“That’s fucking easy for  _you_  to say, man,” Jared replies, but there’s no anger in his tone. “Whose place is this?”

“My ex-girlfriend’s, Chad says. “She’s got the next envelope. It might be a while before she gets there so you two can chill out for a bit. Maybe even hook up, I’ll even turn the cameras off.”

“You’re joking, right? What cameras?” However, the line’s already gone dead.

-

Jared finds Jensen in the kitchen, chugging down a glass of water like his life depends on it. He walks over and puts a hand on Jensen’s shoulder; he takes the fact that Jensen doesn’t push him off as a positive sign.

“Come on, you should take some pressure off your knee,” he says. Jensen mumbles something about how he’s not fragile but Jared can’t quite make out what he actually says.

“This is a stupid plan,” Jensen says when they’re sitting on the couch. “Chad is a fucking moron. Those stupid gang people are going to find us and break our faces.”

“There is something off here, kind of like we’re missing something. I don’t understand why I have to pretend to be picking up different items, especially when he knows that I quit this morning. I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Gee, you think?” Jensen snaps and Jared sighs. It barely takes a second for Jensen to turn to him and apologise. “I’m sorry, I’m just wondering how the hell we’ve gotten here.”

“If I recall correctly, you refused to go home when I told you to.”

“Oh believe me, I wanted to,” Jensen says shortly. “But I wasn’t going to just leave you on your own. Why did you agree to do this in the first place?”

“I’ve run stuff for him before,” Jared says defensively. “I thought it’d just be a standard package you know. Like before.”

“So…you could have been helping him push drugs and all sorts!” Jensen snaps. “That’s just peachy.”

“I think I’d know if I had a kilo of crack in my backpack,” Jared retorts and Jensen scoffs. “Usually we deliver papers, forms, that kind of thing. I’m sure that Mike wouldn’t give us anything shady.”

“Right and this is the same guy that doesn’t care if his employees end up being scraped off the road,” Jensen says with a humourless laugh. “Jared, you’re not that naïve. Just…stop burying your head in the sand, stop pretending that you ever stopped for a second to consider what the hell it was that you delivering. Just stop.”

## 2:20PM

The thing is that Mike Rosenbaum is a sneaky motherfucker. He gets his workers to deliver false visas and fake passports on a daily basis, and anyone that ever peeks into their brown envelope doesn’t usually live to see the next day. There’s not much that Chad can do about it, so he does nothing. In fact Mike doesn’t even register on his radar until two weeks earlier he came into the clubhouse, laughing about how someone had tipped him the police off about him. He made noise about how he had someone to train his guys and Chad deduced that this Mike guy had no idea that the police would make anything go away if you paid them enough.

He’d gone back to his duties but was still close enough to overhear Mike going on about his best rider, Jared. He thought nothing of it until Jeff stepped forward and took an interest in the conversation.

“This kid got a last name?” he asked in his usual gruff baritone. “We could use a new getaway driver.”

“Padalecki,” Mike said and Chad froze.

Here he was now, watching as Mike got into a car with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, snapping pictures on his phone. Perhaps involving Jared in his plan was the wrong move, but there was a reason why Chad had done it. His friend Sophia worked at the DAs office and she’d accessed Mike’s file. Or rather, Chad had hacked into her account and accessed the files by himself, but whatever that was just semantics. For every charge that Mike had been accused of, his lawyers had provided the police with a name and evidence of their involvement. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

“So, what have you got for me?” Mike asks, as the bug that Chad had planted in Jeff’s car picks up his voice.

“Nothing today,” Jeff says. “I’m looking for someone, they stole information from me and I think that they sent it to someone.”

“Okay…”Mike says slowly, as if he doesn’t understand what Jeff is saying. “What does that have to do with me?”

“I’m looking for Chad Michael Murray.”  _Shit._

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._

“your best worker just happens to be his friend I don’t suppose that you’ve seen him today?”

“Actually, he quit this morning,” Mike says. “I haven’t seen him since.” There’s a tremble in Mike’s voice but Chad finds himself frowning at the fact that he’s covering for Jared. Jeff seems to catch the quiver in Mike’s tone because there’s an audible rustle and accompanying click and Jeff speaks,

“Really, Mike? You sure about that?”

“Uh. No, I…just remembered. I got this weird call asking for him specifically, they gave me an address to give to him. I have it right here on my cell.”

“I’m glad that I could jig your memory,” Jeff replies and Chad can tell that he has that sinister smile on his face. “Call him. Tell him I want to meet.” There’s silence and Chad assumes that Mike has pulled out his cell to make the call.

Seconds later Mike says, “It’s off.”

“Call his boyfriend.”

_Fuck_.

Chad was not expecting that. He starts his engine quickly and pulls out of the street, dialling Jared as he picks up speed.

## 2:30PM

  
Jared isn’t hiding out in the bathroom, he’s just, reflecting. At least that’s what he tells himself. He understands that Jensen is scared, worried and panicking but none of that is helping. So he makes himself scarce, leaving the phone on the coffee table and seeks refuge in the bathroom. He takes a piss, washes his hands, splashes water on his face and swallows a few Tylenol pills to stave of the headache he has. He sits on the edge of the bathtub and just doesn’t get up. Not until he hears Jensen on the phone. He unlocks the door and steps out, swallowing hard as fear threatens to engulf him.

He strides over, snatches the phone out of Jensen’s hand and ends the call. Jensen’s hand is still clasped around air when he turns to give Jared an incredulous look. Jared’s busy answering the phone that Chad gave him.

“Did Jensen just answer his phone?” Chad asks, and Jared can hear the growl of an engine in the background and the familiar sounds of traffic. “Jared.”

He shakes his head a little, “Uh, yeah. He did.”

“Ask him what he said to Mike,” Chad says amidst a particularly loud squeal of tires. “In fact, just put me on speaker.” Jared does as he says, and motions to Jensen silently. He’s not sure why his words are suddenly stuck in his throat.

“Ackles, what did you say to Mike,” Chad asks and Jensen looks flabbergasted for a moment. Jared has to sit down before he throws up or something. He can’t help thinking that he’d make a shit hero in one of those action movies that Jensen seems to love unconditionally. Like, he’d freak if Optimus Prime transformed in front of him.

“He asked where Jared was,” Jensen says slowly. “I said that he was with me. that he wasn’t on any jobs.”

Chad curses loudly and Jared slumps down into the couch.

“Both of you need to get out of there now.”

“What about the next package?” Jensen asks.

“Forget about it,” Chad says nonchalantly. “There’s more than enough dirt in the one you have and the last one. I’ll email the address once I’ve hung up. Do either of you know how to fire a gun? Use it if you need to.”

“Yes.” Jensen answers straight away while Jared continues having his internal freak out. He’d done his best to try and forget about the fucking gun. Jared then realises what Jensen’s saying and he turns to stare at him.

“What?” Jensen says with a shrug. “I’m a Texas boy; it’s practically a way of life.”

“The fucking NRA would  _love_  to have that as their slogan,” Jared shoots back sarcastically, and he’s not even sure where  _that_  comes from.

“Argue later,” Chad says. “Get out of there now. Use the fire escape.”

There’s a beat as turns to share a wary look with Jensen.

“And watch out for Mike – he’s bad news.”

## 4:00PM

Jensen isn’t talking to him. That’s all Jared can think about as they’re walking through the halls of Columbia University. They’d gotten stuck in the traffic on the way, which in turn had made Jared cranky because he was used to running red lights and cutting through gridlock easily. He’d bitched about it for a good twenty minutes until Jensen had told him to shut the fuck up. Jared’s not sure how they’ve gone from talking about the merits of Coyote Ugly to doing a fucking Hood’s bidding work.

_“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you’re already involved.”_

_Jared scoffs in disbelief, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I think I’d know if I was in a fucking murderous gang.”_

In truth, he’s all but realised that he’s possibly been doing the Hoods ‘favours’ for a lot longer than a day. For the first time in a long time, he wishes that he’d just listened to his parents. Just stayed in Texas after college, because that’d beat walking around with a fucking gun, albeit one that’s tucked into Jensen’s jeans.

Jared’s jolted out of his thoughts by a brash elbow into his side. There’s a cop heading their way, and in light of what Chad told them about his boss having put out the feelers on them, he grabs Jensen and pulls him into a kiss. They look like they’re both young enough to be in college, and even if they don’t anyone can go to college these days.

Jared thinks that he might be overthinking this a little; he’s always had shit coping methods.

Jensen kisses him back, even as the cop walks past them, sparing them only a disinterested glance. He lets his eyes fall shut and he puts more effort into it. Jensen nips at lips softly at first, but he bites down harder and the surprise makes Jared pull back. Jensen’s looking at him oddly, his lips bruised from the kiss and his eyes dark. Jared can’t help feeling as though something here is broken, and he’s not even sure whose fault it is.

“Come on,” Jensen says as he carries on walking. Jared drags a hand through his hair, blows a breath and follows him. Idly, he wonders if he’ll be alive long enough to get his hair cut. It’s getting long again, if his mother caught sight of it, she’d probably get out a scissors and do it herself. Of course, they’d have to be on speaking terms for that to happen.

He promptly tells himself to shut the fuck up.

## 4:06PM

Jeffrey pulls up outside Columbia University and draws his window down, ignoring the no parking sign. He doesn’t have as many allies in the police force as he claims, just enough for him to ensure that if anyone tries to rat him out to the cops he’ll know about it. Still, he’s garnered enough of a reputation in these parts to know that no parking attendant will give him any hassle. Rosenbaum shifts uncomfortably beside him, he’s a reluctant passenger here but luckily for him he wasn’t stupid enough to say no when Jeffrey insisted on his presence. They’ve been tailing Padalecki and the boyfriend for an hour, and eventually the two decided to hop of their cute little mode of transportation and enter the university. As far as Jeffrey knows, neither of them study here, but it’s not as if they can hide inside forever.

So he sits outside in his car, and he waits.

## 4:25PM

Jared’s crawling underneath the chairs in the lecture hall that Chad directs them to. It’s nothing remarkable, unless a shit ton of gross, old, chewing gum can be considered remarkable. God, don’t people grow out of that shit in  _high school_ , there are like, a million fucking trash cans in this room alone.

“What kind of idiot tapes an important document to the bottom of a fucking chair in a room full of over a  _hundred_  chairs?” Jensen bitches from a couple of rows below. If Jared stretches up on his knees, he can see the top of Jensen’s head – so basically a barely there glimpse of spiked hair. It kind of reminds him of a hedgehog. Jensen’s reaction, when Jared points this out to him, is a strategically placed finger.

“Chad, apparently,” Jared says as he feels something hard under one of the chairs. “I think I’ve found it.” There’s a rustling sound as he yanks the brown envelope of the bottom of the seat and stands quickly. His knees crack and he sighs wearily.

“Oh, thank God,” Jensen says as he gets up. “Let’s get out of here.”

-

Jared doesn’t realise that anything is amiss until he catches sight of someone who looks suspiciously like Mike waiting by the entrance. He pulls the straps of his bag tighter on his shoulders and stops **.** According to Chad, Mike’s been in cahoots with Jeffrey Dean Morgan for some time. Jared feels sick to his stomach just thinking about it, and the sight of Mike coming closer makes him panic.

“Jared, what’s going on?” Jensen says from a couple of paces ahead of him. “What is it?”

“Run!” Jared grabs Jensen’s arm, and guides them further into the building. There has to be another exit somewhere, albeit a fire escape. As they run down the hallway, Jared glances backwards only to see that Mike is still hot on their heels. He swears under his breath as they round a corner and almost bump into a student with stack of textbooks in her hands. From the sounds he hears, Mike clatters into her anyway. Eventually Jared spots an empty seminar room, and he pulls Jensen into it and slams the door shut.

“Help me move that computer desk to the door,” he says as he pants harshly, and Jensen’s only response is a wary nod. They shift it fairly easily, the same way Mike’ll shift it away from the door but Jared doesn’t dwell on that. He grabs a chair and tosses it at the window, watching silently as the glass shatters. Jensen disappears out of his sight for a few seconds and suddenly there’s a loud, wailing alarm sounding in the room.

“I hit the fire alarm,” Jensen explains as Jared uses fire extinguisher to remove all the jagged edges of glass still attached to the window pane. “They’ll have a hard time finding us if there are bunch of people flocking out of the building.”

“Good thinking,” Jared says as he peers out of the now glass-free window. Luckily, it’s on ground floor and he’s able to hoist himself up, and squeeze through it easily. Jensen follows him and soon they’re making their way around the side of the building. Jensen’s quiet but Jared wonders if a million different questions are running through his mind.

“I’m sorry,” he blurts out. “For all of this, I should have checked before I even started this job, made sure that I wasn’t working for a crook.”

Jensen scoffs quietly, “Your ignorance was probably for the best. You know the truth now and you have a freaking death sentence hanging over you.”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

“You’re welcome,” Jensen snaps and Jared blows out a breath. He understands, he really does, but it doesn’t stop him from wanting to punch Jensen in the face. Luckily for them, a car pulls up and Chad sticks his head out of the driver’s side and motions for them to get in. They do so, albeit reluctantly, but the thought of Mike catching up to them means that there’s no really choice in the end.

Chad doesn’t go far, just ten minutes away, and he stops when they reach a residential street. Jared practically rips open his bag, and he begins to dump the envelopes onto the passenger seat. He hesitates over the cash, but in the end he throws that out to. From the corner of his eye, he can see Jensen’s eyes widening in surprise.

“I want out,” he says. “I don’t want to deliver your crap, you can come and pick it up, take it anywhere, whatever,” Jared says, sure that he’s not even making sense. “This plan of yours was nothing short of idiotic but that’s fine. What’s done is done; you can take it from here.”

There’s silence in the car after his little speech and it unnerves Jared. “Say something!”

“I’ve apologised already,” Chad says. “I’m not going to do it again. I get that you’re pissed, but you can’t just walk away. Jeff knows who you are, knows what you look like. If none of us make it out of this, he’ll carry on killing and threatening innocent people. All I need is to get this stuff to the Daily News headquarters, my brothers knows someone who’s willing to make this  _national_. If Jeff’s face is on every TV screen in the state, he won’t be able to get away with it.”

“I thought you said that he was in with cops?” Jensen asks. “What if one of them comes out and denies the entire thing, pins the blame on you. Or what if they ‘lose’ evidence?”

“I have everything here, bank records, video evidence, and paper trails? This,” Chad motions to the now scattered envelopes, “is just a fucking foreword man. I need people to take this seriously before I release anymore.”

“you needed me to deliver them because…?” Jared’s not really seeing where he fits into all of this.

“I can’t just stroll into the HQ of a news company in broad daylight, I might as well just put a bullet in my brain,” Chad says in an outraged tone. “The only reason why I had to go from A to B to C was so that Mike didn’t get suspicious.”

“I went and quit and fucked everything up,” Jared says despondently, slumping back on to the seat.

“Well to be fair, it was a pretty terrible plan in the first place,” Jensen says. “No offence, Chad. You do realise that Daily News is a tabloid, right?”

“Yeah,” Chad answers. “My brother said that I needed someone to embellish the story first and that I should send it there.” Chad cocks his head to the side, as if something has just occurred to him.

“Or you can go one better and take it to the Rockefeller Center, see if someone at NBC is ready to take you seriously,” Jensen says with a roll of his eyes. Chad ponders this for a moment and frowns.

“I’ll call my contact, see if he can set something up at short notice,” Chad says, and then he smiles wryly. “So what do we do now? Jeff knows that I took the information, if he sees me I’m a dead man.”

“We need a distraction,” Jared says slowly. “We get Jeff and Mike to point A, while one of us secretly makes their way to B.”

“I’ll do it,” Jensen replies quickly.

“Jensen—“Jared starts to say but Jensen halts his words with a raised hand.

“I’m doing it,” he says. “You need to figure out how you and Chad will distract Jeff and Mike. Maybe find a cop that isn’t shady.” Jared frowns as he glances down at the graze on his knee.

He smiles to himself. “I have an idea.”

## 5:10PM

It takes Jensen a ridiculous amount of time to find a damn parking spot, and even after that he has to feed the meter a crazy amount of coins, as he pays for the longest available duration. Before Jared had left, he'd insisted that Chad give the car to Jensen and take the Vespa. He'd argued of course, and they were five minutes away from coming to blows when Chad told them both to shut the fuck up, tossed the car keys in Jensen's lap and left.

"Well, I guess that's settled then," Jared had said. Jensen had merely rolled his eyes, because he was just tired and fed up with the day thus far. Now he's here, at the Rockefeller Center. He makes his way in quickly, and swears that he's someone that looks a lot like Liz Lemon rushing through the exit, but he carries on. The security guard closest to the counter eyes him warily and Jensen smiles at him, laughing to himself when the guy turns away quickly. He strides over to the reception area, and demands to see the NBC news producer. The receptionist simply raises a perfectly manicured eyebrow as she grabs a form from her desk and hands it to him.

"I'm guessing that you don't have an appointment, so please write your message down here and I'll pass on the message." He takes the form, but before he can reply, she tosses back her blonde hair and goes back to her computer. Jensen sighs loudly and leans on the desk,

"Sorry, sweetheart, I actually  _do_  have an appointment." He's bluffing; Chad claims that he can come up with a name in time for Jensen to make it past, but Jensen honestly can't help thinking that Chad's full of shit. It's no secret that Jensen thinks that Chad is a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, so he's not expecting Chad to come through. Nor is he expecting the receptionist to give him such a scathing look.

"I am  _not_  your sweetheart," she snaps. "I have a name tag, okay. It's mandatory to wear the damn thing, God the least you could do is read it. Ugh, _people_." Jensen blinks and peers down at the small nametag affixed to her suit jacket. It says 'Katie' in nondescript letters. As she glares at him, his phone (or the one that Chad handed to him after crushing his old one) buzzes in his pocket and he checks it quickly.

"Sorry,  _Katie_ , I have a meeting, name's James Lafferty," he says and she sighs and clicks a few buttons. The name must be there because she reaches back to grab something and turns around to present him with a visitors pass.

"You're going to have to let Jerry pat you down first," she says snidely. "Luckily for you, he's very thorough." Jensen scowls at the sweet, yet blatantly fake smile on her face.

He hopes that Jared's having better luck.

## 5:18PM

If there’s anything Mark’s learned about dangerous cyclists, it is that they don’t know when to stop. Just like this kid – Jared Padalecki, who had his named taped under his seat. Mark checks him on the police database and surprisingly the kid has no priors. Before today that is, because Mark has every intention of nailing this kid to the damn wall for resisting arrest, reckless cycling and abandonment of the bicycle. He’s not sure if that last one is an actual charge, but he doesn’t give a damn. Jared Padalecki is going to  _pay_.

Mike takes the bicycle to the local impound lot and tells the person at the reception to make sure that the bicycle is displayed somewhere obvious. A couple of strange looks and fifty bucks later, Mark’s plan is set into motion.

He sits back and he waits.

## 5:46PM

It takes Jared an hour to locate his bike, as well as a long and irritating phone call to the NYPD. Chad offers to steal one for him but Jared wants  _his_ bike. He wants one last chance to ride it before he stows the thing in an abandoned shed somewhere and buys a fucking car. The events of the day have taken the shine away from riding it.

Jared grabs his bike quickly, with minimal hassle. He practically throws a wad of cash at the attendant and checks it out, wheeling it out of the slowly as he looks around. He can't be certain that Officer Pellegrino is watching him, but there's a big enough chance for this to work. All he has to do is let Pellegrino chase him into a corner and then explain what's going on, and get him to call for back-up. Chad might believe that Jeffery Dean Morgan has the entire NYPD under his thumb, but Jared’s seen  _Training Day_. For every Denzel Washington, there’s probably at least two Ethan Hawke’s and he’s betting that Pellegrino is one of them.

He sets off on his journey, unaware that there’s an unmarked sedan following him  _and_ Mark.  


## 6:00PM

Jensen is left sitting in the waiting area for a long time, long enough for him to suspect that his cover has been blown. Needless to say, that’s the least of his worries. He wishes that he’d stuck with Jared, because being here while Jared’s probably being chased around the city is nerve-shattering.

“Mr Lafferty?” a voice calls and it takes Jensen a while to realise that supposed to be  _him_  and he stands hastily, forces a smile out as the secretary guides him into a small, but stylishly designed office.

“I hear you have some information for me,” the man behind the desk says as he gestures for Jensen to sit. He looks to be his mid-40s, has salt-n-pepper hair, the faint shadow of a beard on his face and is wearing in an expensive suit. “Luckily for you, James assures me that you’re legit and not just some punk trying to fabricated nonsense.”

“That’s what the internet is for,” Jensen says with a raised eyebrow. “I’m sure it helps you weed out all the hoax stories.” The man chuckles, and for some reason the sound irks Jensen but he clears his throat and sits up.

“You know what this about right?” he asks. “This is an expose on the New York Hoods, and I’m willing to hand over all of the information I have, but on one condition.” The man purses his lips and rocks back in his chair, legs crossed over as he regards Jensen silently. He nods as if to say,  _go on_.

“You need to have some sort of special bulletin up as soon as possible, with the name of the gang leader.”

The man – whose name Jensen still hasn’t caught – laughs. It’s an ugly, grating sound and Jensen finds himself frowning.

“what kind of crimes correspondent would I be if I cooked up some half-assed story with no facts to back it up?”

“I have the facts,” Jensen says slowly. “It’s all here.”

“Is it really?” The man says with a smile. Jensen’s phone buzzes in his hand, and he looks down at it briefly, just in case it’s Jared. It’s not, it’s from Chad instead.

_Get out of there now. James is a fucking snake_.

Oh  _shit_.

“Because the way I see it, you’ve come here to spread lies, and I have a duty to hand you in to the cops for false allegations,” the man continues. “Do you really think that I don’t know who these guys are? That I don’t have enough information to bring them down myself? Do you know what the Hoods do? They keep the murky parts of this city in order.”

“Oh and they do that by smuggling drugs in and out of the city, by murdering innocent people?” Jensen says sarcastically. “I think you’re mistaking order with organised crime, buddy.”

“Hand over the information that you have, and I promise you that I’ll let you walk out of this building unscathed.”

“How stupid do you think I am?” Jensen asks, lips curling up to form a sneer. “I have friends; they know that I’m here. So give it your best shot, old man. Dare to lay a finger on me.” The man scoffs at Jensen’s bravado, as Jensen tries not to let his fear show on his face. He’s pretty sure that this guy could just kill him right here and then, and never face the consequences. The man takes a sip of the water on his desk and another before setting the glass down gently. It’d been half empty when Jensen first arrived in the office and only then does he notice the beads of sweat dotting the man’s forehead, glassy eyes and trembling hands.

Jensen looks at his own untouched glass of water and sends a silent prayer to whoever’s up there.

“Hand…over….the….information.” The man’s breaths are laboured now, slow and sluggish and blood draws from his face. He mumbles something else, but eventually he drops to the floor, chair toppling down with him.

The door opens and a woman with vibrant, red hair sticks her head into the doorway. She barely spares a glance at Jensen, just heads over to the man and checks his pulse. Seemingly satisfied with her findings, she stands and makes her way over to the door, heels thudding against the soft carpet.

“Don’t just sit there,” she snaps at Jensen as she hovers in the doorway. “Come on.”

Jensen seriously hopes that Jared’s having better luck than he is.

  


## 6:17PM & ONWARDS

_Jared’s sailing through the air at 30mph, seconds after his bike is rammed into by one of those fucking yellow taxis. For a moment he feels weightless, almost like he’s disintegrating into thin air. Seconds later_ , _his back hits the tar and pain floods into his system. Someone screams his name in the distance but it sounds muffled, like he’s underwater and can’t breathe._

Fuck.

\--

Sound comes rushing back into Jared’s ear so quickly that he cries out without realising, pain rippling through his body momentarily as he shifts silently. He hears a cry of his name and makes an attempt to sit up but arms push him down.

“Don’t worry kid,” the gruff voice says and Jared’s eyes fly open immediately as the memories flood back. Someone had been chasing him. The distant memory of a bell chimes in his ear. The bike cop – Pellegrino – had been after him. Tires squealing as he black tar burns the rubber. There’d been a car too, one that the man crouching in front of him had been driving. Jared meets the man’s eyes, sees the steely determination there and he swallows. It’s him, it’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan. There’s a beat. Jared scrambles backwards, ignoring the gasps of the crowd that’s gathered at the scene. He can hear the sirens in the distance, probably police cars and ambulances. In the time he takes for him to be distracted by the noise, Morgan has vanished. Jared struggles to his feet, barely sparing a glance towards his now mangled bicycle. He doesn’t think that anything’s broken, can’t feel any injuries besides some bruising. Though, when someone grabs his wrist moments later causing a sharp ache to jolt through it, he corrects his assessment.

“We meet at last, Padalecki,” Officer Pellegrino says but Jared’s too busy scanning the area to see what’s happened to Morgan. It’s kind of difficult to when the crowd’s began to disperse; apparently disinterested in the situation now that Jared’s upright and not bleeding all over the ground. “Let’s get you checked over.”

The word hospital rings in his mind, and Jared does a double take. Holy shit.  _Holy fucking shit_. He could have  _died_. He looks around for his backpack, desperate to see if his phone has survived his nasty tumble, but it’s nowhere to be seen. Jared turns to Officer Pellegrino whose handcuffs are hovering dangerously close to his wrists.

“Wait,” he pleads, as Pellegrino opens the clasp. “I need your help. That guy – the one who was near me right after I got hit, he’s a gang leader, he’s  _dangerous_.”

“Yeah, save it for someone who cares,” Pellegrino retorts as he frogmarches Jared over to the stretch of road where the ambulance has pulled up. The paramedic gives Jared a surly look when he catches sight of him, and he’s a little rough as he makes Jared get into the back so he can check him over. Apparently his wrist is only bruised, and applying ice should help the swelling go down. “ _Maybe the cops will be nice enough to give you some,”_ is what the paramedic sneers at him right before Officer Pellegrino drags him away. He watches as Pellegrino radios something in. Listens as the response that comes back is, “ _I’m going to have to ask you to stand down, Officer. Your sergeant suspended you an hour ago for abandoning your station”._

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Pellegrino mutters under his breath and Jared watches him silently, brain working hard as he tries to think of a way to get himself out of this mess. First he has to check on Jensen, and then he has to find Chad.

Chad.

Chad was supposed to be tailing Jeff. Meaning that…Jared looks across the street, sees the Vespa placed at the side, unchained but still in once piece. However there’s no sign of Chad. He turns to see Pellegrino, who has a thunderous look on his face.

“Fucking assholes,” Pellegrino vents. “You know, I’m an honest man, an honest cop, doing a shitty job because I don’t take hand-outs like half of them do.”

“Okay…” Jared trails off as Pellegrino gives him a dark look. “Look, I get that I haven’t made your job any easier, but now’s your chance to do some _real_  police work. I can help you take down the ringleader of the Hoods.”

“What’s a guy like you doing caught up in all of that shit?”

“Bad choice in friends,” Jared says without skipping a beat. “Look, why else would no squad cars show up? You don’t think that’s odd? He told them not to come here, and he stole my bag.”

“What’s inside the bag?”

“Well,  _nothing_ , I was only trying to draw you into a chase so that I could ask for your help. It maybe wasn’t the brightest idea.” Jared does his best not to frown as Pellegrino snorts at his words.

“It’s not like I have anything better to do,” the officer says eventually. “But we’re going to need better transport. You cycle like some sort of maniac.”

\--

Chad gives himself up in the end, because even though Jeff has the empty bag, Jared’s still got a red cross over him. If Jeffrey has Chad, then he’ll be distracted, and maybe, just maybe, Jensen will come through. In turns out that giving himself up isn’t much of an issue when it turns out that his brother’s already caved in to Jeffrey’s charms. They don’t go too far away from the crash scene; Mike drives them to some betting shop in some pokey backstreet. It’s close but out of the way at the same time; the perfect place to dispatch of a  _rat_  and pass it off as some sort of local feud.

By the time Chad’s sufficiently roughed up and fixed to a chair, hands bound behind his back and legs strapped together, Jeffrey’s grinning as he holds up a rucksack.

“I’m kind of impressed,” the tyrant says. “Out of all you boys, I wouldn’t have picked you to be a rat, Murray. You slipped under the radar, huh?”

“ _Go to hell_ ,” Chad spits out. The backhand isn’t a surprise but the sting that follows it shocks Chad initially.

“Nobody crosses me and lives to tell tale, kid.” Jeffrey sneers, dark eyes flashing with rage as Mike emerges from somewhere behind him. “Rosenbaum, open the bag.”

Mike gives Chad a wary glance; he has an almost resigned air around him, like he knows that this won’t end well for any of them. Chad can’t help feeling a little sympathetic. Especially when he knows that Jeffrey won’t take too kindly to Mike revealing the contents of the bag. The zip sounds loudly in the room, and Chad watches as Mike bulls out a relatively thick bundle.

It’s an old Sears catalogue, with a post-it note affixed to the front.

“ _You’re going down, Morgan,_ ” Jeffrey reads off the note with incredulous expression on his face. Chad’s not really sure if the note was necessary.

“Start talking, asshole,” Jeffrey says as he approaches Chad’s chair. “Or I’ll shoot you right here and now.”

“Go ahead,” Chad says his voice full of fake bravado. “It’s not like anyone’s going to miss me.” He makes sure that his voice trembles in all the right places, as his fingers fumble with the binds on his wrist. They’re getting looser by the second.

\--

The woman that came to his rescue introduces herself as Danneel. She doesn’t give him any room to ask questions, just demands that he follow her. So he does. Jensen follows Danneel down several hallways, an elevator ride and lastly through some sort of fire escape. Even though the air outside is stuffy, it still makes Jensen feel a little better.

Only after that does he stop and ask, “What did you do to him? Did you  _kill_  him?” She stops walking, turns to look at him and rolls her eyes.

“No,” she says. “It was just crushed up sleeping pills in his precious strawberry flavoured water, he’ll be fine. Don’t you have some special information that you’re supposed to be handing over?”

“What do you know about that?” Jensen’s instantly suspicious, though he can’t say that he knows who Chad has and hasn’t told, so maybe he’s being overly cautious.

“I know enough,” Danneel says as she resumes walking, gesturing for Jensen to follow her once again. He obliges because, really what other option does he have. She’s silent for a while and he checks his phone again, but there’s nothing from Jared. Suddenly being outside isn’t making him feel any better.

“What do you want?” he asks, as they reach a parking lot. Danneel heads towards a sleek, black car and uses her key to unlock it automatically. “I’m not going anywhere with you until you tell me what you want.”

“Fine,” Danneel says, and she leans back against the car. “I work with the FBI, we’ve been working with the DA’s office, trying to find out about the Hoods, and bring them down without the complication of dirty cops getting in the way.”

“Am I just supposed to believe you, don’t you have a badge or something?” She rolls her eyes, but pulls out her opens her jacket and lifts up the badge currently hanging from her neck.

“Happy?”

“This is insane,” Jensen says more to himself than her. “All of this is fucking insane.”

“Look, just get in the car and we’ll talk on the way,” Danneel says impatiently. “None of this time-wasting will get us anyway, unless you  _want_ Morgan to murder your boyfriend?”

Again, Jensen  _really_ hopes that Jared’s having better luck than he is.

“Are federal agents supposed to  _drug_  people?” Because seriously, he has got to ask.

“We do whatever it takes.” She smirks at him before turning to get into the car.

\---

Jared isn’t having better luck. For starters, they don’t know Chad’s whereabouts, and he doesn’t have his phone on him so he can’t call Chad, or find out if Jensen’s okay. Jensen, who’s probably going to dump his ass after all of this, and Jared won’t blame him one bit.

“For the love of God, quit moping and actually do something,” Pellegrino is driving, but he still manages to give Jared a surly look. “You said your phone was in the bag? Try and locate that with a GPS tracker or something.”

“The GPS was off,” Jared says quietly. “But I was using internet on it, that probably helps right?”

“So, the GPS was off, presumably because you didn’t want Morgan and his cronies to find you, yet you left the internet on. Meaning that you can be tracked anyway via the cell network? That’s smart.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jared snaps. “Just show me how I can find it.”

\---

Jensen watches as Danneel thumbs through the wad of papers that he’d handed to her, brow furrowed in concentration amidst the occasional mumble. After what seems like an age, she sets them down and looks up at him.

“This stuff is good; we could actually use it to send Morgan away. Of course we’re going to need more, but as long as I find Murray alive that shouldn’t be problem,” Danneel stops and narrows her eyes. “So…where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Jensen replies. “I don’t know where Jared is either; he’s not been answering my calls.”

“Wait here,” Danneel says and she leaves the small conference room. Minutes later she returns, with two men close on her heels. They’re holding some machine that’s connected to a bunch of wires as well as a laptop.

“Give me your phone,” one of the men says and Danneel nods for Jensen to acquiesce.

She turns back to him after observing the men. “We’re going to call the phone, and try and pick up a trace. Just stay calm, and natural on the phone. We need you to maintain the call for 30 seconds.”

“Wha—“Jensen is cut off by the dialling tone sounding off into the room, and he scowls at Danneel. He doesn’t even know why they’re bothering, he’s tried calling over and over and there’s been no answer.

“Who the hell is this?” A gruff voice sounds out and Danneel motions wildly for him to say something.

“Uh, Jensen…Ackles, who are you?” The person on the other end of the line laughs cruelly and Jensen’s filled with a sense of dread. “Where’s Jared?”

“So, you’re the boyfriend, huh?” The person – who Jensen presumes to be Morgan – chuckles again, and Jensen clenches his fists. “I don’t know where the kid is. Last time I saw him, they were carting him off in ambulance.”

Jensen’s heart stops.

He looks up at Danneel, only to find her motioning for him to talk. With a roll of his eyes, he says, “What do you want?”

“I want everything that rat Murray gave to you,” Morgan says. “Or I’m going to kill you and your boyfriend.” Danneel mouths ‘ _ask him to meet you_ ’.

“Fine,” Jensen says. “I’ll give it to you and you leave me, Jared and Chad alone..”

“Oh dear, Murray, looks like you’ll always been an afterthought.” Jensen thinks he can hear someone that sounds suspiciously like Chad saying ‘ _fuck you, asshole_ ’.

“Meet me in one hour at this address,” Morgan adds as he rattles out street number and location and hangs up.

“Good job, Jensen,” Danneel says. “He’s located in an old betting shop downtown, just a few blocks from the address he gave us. We’ll go down there and apprehend him, and find Jared. We need you to sit tight, and we’ll keep you updated.”

“No way, I’m coming with you,” Jensen says adamantly.

“You’re not a trained federal agent,” Danneel says slowly, as if he’s a child being talked out of a tantrum.

“I’m coming with you.” She holds his gaze for a few moments before glancing at her watch.

“Get him a vest,” she says to one of the men. “We leave in ten minutes.”

Jensen just hopes that they’re not too late.

\---

“Okay, so they’re definitely in this old betting shop?” Jared asks, as he glances down at Officer Pellegrino’s ridiculously complicated tablet. “Is it even legal for you to have this kind of software?”

Officer Pellegrino’s response is predictably frosty. “Do you ever shut up?” Jared’s mouth snaps shut. He’s certain that he hasn’t been talking that much. It’s just that he’s nervous and he tends to ramble when that happens. Pellegrino doesn’t seem impressed when Jared relays that to him, but as he stops at the lights, he hands over his cell.

“Call your boyfriend and make sure that he’s okay.” Jared almost says no, because he doesn’t know the number. It’s stupid, he knows it is, but what with cells being the most used mode of communication, he has no need to remember numbers. He still feels like shit, he got Jensen into this mess; put him in the line of danger because of his stupidity. If something happens to him, Jared will never forgive himself.

He can tell that Officer Pellegrino is trying to be nice so he takes it and dials the only number he does remember – his parents.

It goes straight to voicemail and Jared leaves a message that’s vague enough for Pellegrino not to realise that he’s called someone else.

“How long until we reach the shop?” he asks as they start to move again.

Pellegrino sighs, “Are we really going to do the ‘ _are we there yet?_ ’ thing? Because I am a trained officer, I can render you unconscious in about 5 different ways without breaking a sweat, and I’d enjoy it.”

“Noted,” Jared says and he turns to look out of the window.

\--

It all happens very quickly.

One minute Chad’s getting the shit kicked out of him by one of Jeff’s goons, and the next someone’s storming into the room. In the midst of the commotion, he gets knocked down, still trapped in the chair because of the binds. He can still see what’s going on, and he observes at least five cops – feds, probably – standing in the doorway, weapons raised and aimed in Jeff’s direction. Jeff stands there with his own weapon in tow, as he’s flanked by his own team.

“FBI!” a female voice calls out. “Lower your weapons and put your hands in the air!” Before Jeff can respond, there’s another set of footsteps and a cry of Chad’s name. He cranes his neck as far as it can go and catches sight of a tall figure looking in his direction.

It’s probably not Jared’s brightest moment because Jeff looks up and fires a shot off in Jared’s direction and Chad feels his eyes practically bugging out of his skull as Jared goes down like a sack of potatoes. Chad think he hears someone call out Jared’s name but blast of gunfire start up and he watches as Jeff’s men start to trade blows with the FBI. Chad starts to struggle with the rope around his wrists, and finds that it’s still loose from before. As he gets his hands free, Jeff turns and starts to escape. Chad reaches out and grabs his ankle, causing Jeff to stop short.

“You son of a bitch!” Jeff hisses and he raises his weapon, and all Chad can see his the barrel of it. He closes his eyes and waits for the shot. When it rings out he doesn’t feel any pain. However, seconds later a heavy weight topples on top of him and his eyes fly open in shock. Jeff is splayed on top of him, unmoving but still breathing. Chad catches sight of a NYPD officer with blonde hair eyeing him. The shooting seems to come to a halt, and Chad hears some thudding.

“Sorry about that,” the officer says with a bored shrug. Chad merely blinks at him. “Just so you know Padalecki made me haul ass here so we could find you. I really hope that you weren’t just screwing him around.”

“Wait…” Chad blinks again as he tries to recover from the shock of everything. “You’re the crazy bike cop, aren’t you?” A sour look appears on the man’s face and he turns to leave.

“Wait,” Chad says again. “Do you think you could untie me from this chair first?”

\---

Jensen’s mind stops functioning as he watches Jared go down like a ton of bricks. Despite the fact that he’s under strict orders to stay in the van, he practically flies out and rushes to Jared’s aid. It might be a stupid thing to do, judging by the hail storm of bullets flying aside, but one of those could easily hit Jared so he takes the chance. He manages to drag Jared outside, eyes constantly straying to the bullet hole in Jared’s shirt.

“That was dumb, even for you,” he murmurs as he checks for a pulse. Jared must hear him because he eyes flutter open and he attempts to sit up.

“You’re okay,” Jared says hoarsely. “That’s…good. Good.”

“Stay still,” Jensen replies softly. “You’ve been shot. God, your wrist looks awful, what did you do to it?”

“Got knocked over…” The adrenaline that Jensen’s been running on seems to just evaporate and he’s left feeling as if he’s been punched in the stomach. It’s as if all the air in his system has been sucked out and he concludes that he can’t do this. He can’t be here anymore.

 

Morgan doesn’t survive three days in hospital, he suffers a cardiac arrest and the guard outside his room mysteriously vanishes. Jared doesn’t stress over the details but Chad has all kinds of theories. It’d be too risky for his “business” partners to leave him alive apparently. Jensen doesn’t say much, just spends a lot of time staring at the picture of Natasha and Anya that Chad emails to them. Jared’s not sure if there’s still a relationship to be salvaged, even though Jensen assures him that he doesn’t think everything was Jared’s fault

In the days following April 17th, their faces are plastered all over the news and a lot of the Hoods are rounded up and put in FBI custody. The real hero of the story isn’t Jared. It isn’t Jensen, isn’t Chad, nor is it the FBI. No, that honour falls to Officer (soon to be Sergeant) Pellegrino, who’s the man of the hour, the man who took on the notorious leader of the New York Hoods and came out on top. The common man, who possessed uncommon qualities not found in his fellow men, was brave and courageous.

“Seriously, who writes this shit?” Pellegrino says while he flips through the newspaper. “The  _common man_? What is this,  _Death of a Salesman_ analysis?”

“How is it that he gets all the plaudits?” Chad grumbles and he glares at Pellegrino.

“The only reason you’re not in a cell is because you struck a deal with the DA, that’s why?” Jensen says. It’s the first thing he’s said to Chad since the 17th and Jared looks between them warily.

“Look, Ackles,  _I’m sorry_ , okay,” Chad says gravely. “I shouldn’t have involved you in this, I know that, and I’m no angel. I’m trying to make amends, and this was just the start. I thought that I would be dead at the end of this, and that made me careless.”

“The only reason I’m here is because of Jared,” Jensen says blankly. “I don’t care what your motives were, you guilt tripped Jared into joining your little suicide mission and that’s not cool. That’ll never be cool with me. We are  _never_  going to be friends.” With that said, Jensen stands and he leaves the meeting room that they’re currently in. They’re still in the middle of helping the FBI with their enquiries, which is really just a nice way of saying  _sitting around in a room for hours on end while drinking shitty coffee_.

“Dramatics aside, the man’s got a point,” Pellegrino says as he rocks back on his chair. “Your plan? Horrible. Execution? Woeful. Intentions? Dubious. Personally, I’d throw the book at you.”

“We all make mistakes,” Jared says when Chad slumps in his seat. “Some worse than others, but let’s face it, I probably should have made sure that I wasn’t working for a crook like Mike.”

“You shouldn’t have endangered the streets,” Pellegrino interjects. “I’m sure that you won’t be endangering the streets in future.”

“I will abide by the rules, promise.” Jared huffs out a laugh as Pellegrino rolls his eyes and leaves the room. It’s just him and Chad, and Jared turns to look at him.

“This is it, isn’t it?” Chad says. “Our friendship is over. I…I didn’t realise how selfish I was being, you have to believe me.”

“I do,” Jared says simply. “I still want to be friends, but I need time to deal with this and time to fix things with Jensen, to sort my life out. You understand that, right?”

“Yeah, I do. It sucks…but I get it.”

“Good,” Jared says with a firm nod. “Guess I’ll be seeing you.” Chad nods in his direction and Jared can tell that it’s the only goodbye he’s going to get.

~

“Is this a church meeting or is this a bar?” Is probably not the right thing to say to someone who’s currently having an argument with a vending machine, Jared says it regardless.

“I’m not really in the mood for a movie quotation session,” Jensen says, turning to face Jared.

“Neither am I,” Jared replies. “I guess what I meant to ask is if we’re ever going to sit down and watch  _Coyote Ugly_  together without one of us falling asleep.” That isn’t what he meant to ask either, but the look on Jensen’s face tells him that he understands.

“I don’t know.” Jensen shrugs and makes his way over to the seats just a few paces away from the vending machine.

“You say you’re not mad at me,” Jared pauses, sits next to Jensen, “But I can tell that you are. I get it, and I’m  _sorry_ , but please,  _please_  don’t give up on us. Not because of this.”

“That’s the thing,” Jensen says. “I’m not mad at you, Jared, I’m…overwhelmed.”

“By what?”

“All of this! Being chased by police, being shot at, being hunted down by criminals, working alongside the FBI, it’s just…it’s insane. I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“That’s understandable,” Jared says, sure that his confusion is evident in his voice.

“I was so scared that you would die, when I saw you go down after just charging in like that and I realised after that it wasn’t a new feeling, it’s how I felt every time you got on that fucking bike, and rode around without a care in the world. I can’t do that every day, I don’t want to.”

“I get that.” Jared’s always known that there’s a chance that Jensen could end things with him, he’s even prepared himself for it, but as he sits here beside Jensen he knows that was all in vain. The pain rising in his chest hurts, Jensen’s words and anguish  _hurt_  and if Jared being out of the picture makes it go away, then he will have to be okay with it.

For Jensen’s sake.

“But I saw something in you that day that I’d be crazy to walk away from,” Jensen says and just like that, Jared’s insides flip and a wave of anxiousness rolls around. “You could have run away, left Chad to his own devices, despite the whole emotional blackmail and everything. You even had a police officer hunting you down, and you still helped Chad out. That kind of loyalty is hard to come by, and it’s probably why Chad involved you in the first place, he knew that you wouldn’t let him down. I know that you’d never let me down, not on purpose.”

“So what are you saying?” Jared asks, because they can sit here and chat all day but there’s only one thing that he wants to know right now.

“I’m saying that…as long as you don’t pull any crazy shit and scare me half to death; I would very much like to watch Coyote Ugly with you.” Jared stares at him for a few seconds as the words connect in his brain, and just like that he lights up, springs forward and kisses Jensen. He doesn’t care that there are people passing by, he just presses closer and revels in the feeling of Jensen’s lips moving against his.

It won’t be plain-sailing, or  _easy_ , but Jared’s just glad that they’re not over. Someone calls his name in the distance, and it’s muffled, but this time, the weight of Jensen’s hand settles in his, and he’s breathing easy.

~

**_Fin._ **

 


End file.
